According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), over 40% of people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime: roughly 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women. While a cancer diagnosis was once an almost-certain death sentence, increased awareness and developments in diagnosis and treatment mean that more and more people can call themselves cancer survivors.
Even so, nobody wants to hear the words, “You have cancer.” In most cases, treatment is physically challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. In an effort to save life, cancer treatment necessarily disrupts it—often for months or years. However, when you’re on the receiving end of that diagnosis, you are usually willing to do whatever your oncologist (cancer doctor) recommends for the best shot at extending your life. In other words, cancer patients place a lot of trust in their oncologists—so it’s especially heartbreaking when that trust is violated by oncologist malpractice.
Oncologists have a duty of care to their patients. When they breach that duty by failing to act as a reasonable oncologist in the same situation would, and a patient suffers injury, that is medical malpractice.
Oncologist malpractice can take many forms, including:
It is possible for oncologists to make serious mistakes that do not constitute cancer doctor malpractice, so long as their patient isn’t harmed. As mentioned above, an injury is an element of a claim for oncologist malpractice. Often, that injury includes increased pain and suffering, the need for more drastic medical procedures, loss of function or quality of life, and of course, loss of life itself. These injuries can lead to significant damages, both economic and non-economic.
Of course, no amount of money can truly compensate a patient or their family for what has been taken away from them by oncologist malpractice. But a monetary settlement or award can ease the stress of a family struggling with medical issues or the loss of a loved one. And, unfortunately, it is often the only way the legal system has to make things right for victims of cancer doctor malpractice.
Even when an oncologist does everything right, the sad reality is that bad outcomes still happen, and painfully, some patients will die even with excellent care. For that reason, it can be difficult to know whether a death or other bad outcome was actually the result of oncologist malpractice.
It’s especially challenging to identify oncologist malpractice as a layperson. If you are a patient or family member, you may lack access to the information you need to identify cancer doctor malpractice, unless the negligence was glaring—like removing the wrong breast in a mastectomy. Most of the time, medical mistakes are much more subtle than that.
In addition, as a patient or family member, you are dealing with more pressing issues—like recovering your health, caring for your family, or dealing with the loss of a loved one. You probably don’t have the bandwidth to investigate possible oncologist malpractice, even if you had the knowledge and experience to do so.
The problem is that if you wait, you may lose the opportunity to make a claim. Once the statute of limitations expires, you are legally barred from filing a medical malpractice claim, no matter how strong your claim might have been.
The solution is to contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as you suspect medical malpractice from an oncologist. An attorney who regularly deals with these issues will be able to advise you whether further investigation is warranted. If so, they will investigate for you, so that you can focus on your needs and those of your family. If you have a viable claim, your malpractice attorney will file it and do everything necessary to maximize your claim’s chances of success, while answering your questions and providing the support you deserve.
Oncologist malpractice is a deeply painful issue. You don’t have to deal with it alone. To learn more about cancer doctor malpractice, and to get help if you suspect your doctor made a medical mistake, contact the Fraser Law Firm to schedule a consultation.