New Jersey Prostate Cancer Misdiagnosis Attorneys

Failure to Diagnose or Misdiagnosed Prostate Cancer Lawsuits

The skills and experience of your legal counsel play a major role in the outcome of your case. At Simonson Goodman Platzer PC, our legal team has achieved an uncommon level of success in cases of medical malpractice. If you believe you are the victim of medical malpractice, we urge you to contact us immediately to discuss the facts in your case.

Call (800) 817-5029 today!

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is diagnosed in every eight men in the USA, the second most common cancer affecting males. Cancer is essentially out of control cell growth, and prostate cancer can arise in various forms, the most common of which is adenocarcinoma, a cancer occurring in glandular tissues. Other less common types of prostate cancer include:

• Small cell carcinoma
• Neuroendocrine tumors
• Transitional cell carcinoma
• Sarcomas

Failure to Diagnose vs Misdiagnosis

Prostate cancer must be identified as early as possible to be treated successfully. Two errors may occur, a failure to diagnose or a misdiagnosis. A failure to diagnose involves the medical professional completely failing to identify the presence of prostate cancer, and a misdiagnosis involves treating a male patient presenting symptoms for another condition, allowing the cancer cells to continue to proliferate.

How Prostate Cancer Goes Undiagnosed

Prostate cancer presents specific symptoms but may be asymptomatic until it advances to a more dangerous stage. Men with certain risk factors are advised to undergo screening for the disease. 65 percent of diagnosed cases are in men over 65, and 35 percent in younger men. Not all patients experience symptoms, and when they do, the symptoms may be misunderstood or ignored, leaving the cancer free to grow, with the risk of spreading to other areas of the body with extreme consequences. The symptoms that may present include:

• The need to urinate frequently
• Weak or interrupted flow
• Painful or burning during urination
• Erectile dysfunction
• Painful ejaculation
• Bloody urine
• Pain in lower back, hips, upper thighs

Can Prostate Cancer be Misdiagnosed?

These symptoms, when discussed with a doctor, should trigger screening for prostate cancer, but in some cases, are attributed to another condition. A male patient may be treated for a condition or disease with similar symptoms, without ordering tests to rule out prostate cancer. Some of the most common misdiagnoses include:

• Biopsy did not reveal cancer cells, although present.
• Patient is treated for another condition, such as erectile dysfunction or a urinary tract infection.
• Patient is diagnosed with bladder cancer rather than prostate cancer.

Complications from a Failure to Diagnose or Misdiagnosed Case of Prostate Cancer

The complications from failing to rapidly treat prostate cancer include:

• Premature death of the patient
• Severe, debilitating pain
• Loss of healthy sexual function
• Removal of the bladder in error
• The need for very aggressive, invasive treatments
• Permanent impairments
• Metastasis

Proving Malpractice

For a medical malpractice case to be successful, the following must be proven:

• The medical doctor failed to administer the accepted standard of care.
• The failure led to complications from prostate cancer.
• The patient or family of a person dying of the disease had damages.
• What are the damages paid in a successful medical malpractice case?

Damages in Cases of Misdiagnosed or Undiagnosed Prostate Cancer

A medical malpractice case will seek a range of damages:

• Economic damages: All financial losses associated with medical care and treatment, lost wages, reduced or lost earning capacity, and other actual financial losses.
• Non-economic damages: The personal and emotional losses associated with the failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis, such as pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, lost of consortium, emotional anguish, and so on.

Contact Simonson Goodman Platzer PC today at (800) 817-5029 to discuss your case.