One of the most common forms of cancer affecting women around the world is breast cancer; in rare cases, it affects men, as well. In any of the incidents where you or any of your loved ones have been suffering from breast cancer and the doctors fail to diagnose it or misdiagnose it, there are many legal solutions and rights, which can offer deserving relief to the family members of the patient.

Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Has Serious Repercussions

You might have come across a number of stories in magazines and on web sites about patients who were misdiagnosed with breast cancer and the trauma they had to undergo. When the GPs or the doctors in the hospital fail to give the right diagnosis, it is considered one of the most serious forms of medical negligence. Besides, when a hospital fails to detect breast cancer in scans and investigations, the situation worsens.

Cancer is one of the most dreadful diseases, and it claims many lives every year. It can happen in any part of the body. If left undiagnosed, it spreads rapidly to all parts of the body. Sadly, this disease goes undiagnosed in many patients, and puts the patient and his/her family through a great ordeal. If a doctor has misdiagnosed breast cancer or failed to detect it in its early stages and patient undergoes pain or death, then there is every reason to take legal action against the doctor and the hospital.

How Does Misdiagnosis Happen?

There are different cases where breast cancer can go undetected. As a part of the procedure, a patient is required to contact her GP before consulting any other doctor for her ailments; however, if the GP is not a specialist in specific fields, then he may not able to recognize the cancer building up in the breasts. In such cases, the GP might or might not refer the patient to the right specialist. This might delay the diagnosis of the cancer. However, if the GP suspects a cancerous growth, he performs a biopsy to confirm it. At this stage, if the results are incorrect, the cancer is missed. However, if the results of the biopsy are positive and the Radiologist declares the tests to be positive, you get time to undergo treatment. If the Radiologist misinterprets or misreads the test results, you are again left with the wrong diagnosis.

On the contrary, there are also many breast cancer misdiagnosis stories where a patient does not have cancer, but is told that she does. She undergoes treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries and so on for days, months and even years before learning the truth.

Legal Actions against Misinterpreted or Misdiagnosed Breast Cancer

If you or anyone in your family has undergone the trauma of losing someone due to misdiagnosed breast cancer, the experience would be not less than devastating. Though things look hazy after the loss, you must get the courage to seek legal help from a personal injury attorney. Though he cannot give a person their health back, he can definitely help you to recover the medical expenses, lost income, funeral expenses and any other cost incurred in the course of the treatment.

As such, situations demand extreme sensitivity in the initial stages of the investigation, it is difficult to estimate the monetary value. The state government has placed a cap of $250,000 to $750,000 on the compensation.

If you wish to fight the case of misdiagnosed breast cancer all alone, it will be very difficult. A medical malpractice attorney knows all the legal implications of such cases and fights in your favor accordingly. Such Attorneys fight similar cases day in and day out, so they are familiar with the whole system. This helps them to manage your case effectively and get you compensation.

For more information about how to log a case and fight it effectively, contact a medical malpractice attorney in your city. Usually they offer you free advice and support in all possible ways.

Sam Moser is a journalist who studied law before deciding that covering legal matters was more rewarding than defending them.   He has been