Breast Cancer Negligence

Breast cancer is a curable malignancy if diagnosed early. Thus any delay in diagnosis may worsen the prognosis. It is however difficult to establish with absolute certainty weather survivability was compromised due to delay in diagnosis. Many factors come into play such as: the patient’s age, tumor size, tumor grade, receptor status, lymph node and vascular involvement. Therefore there is an absolute need for a medical expert to evaluate whether the delay in diagnosis compromised survivability taking into account all the above mentioned variables.

The most common forms of negligence in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are:

• Misinterpretation of mammogram
• Missing a palpable tumor on physical examination
• Misinterpretation of breast biopsy
• Failure to act on a positive biopsy
• Failure to recommend treatment options
• Failure to treat