An Illinois medical malpractice case recently was settled, avoiding an Illinois jury trial regarding the death of an Illinois man with undiagnosed bladder cancer. The Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit revolved around the urologist who allegedly failed to diagnose the man’s bladder cancer in a timely manner.
The case calls to mind the importance of securing a timely diagnosis in Illinois cancer cases, where just a few months delay may result in drastic differences in the cancer’s staging and in the patient’s chance of a positive outcome.
In this particular case the man had first been referred to the urologist for a second opinion regarding continued complaints of urinary tract difficulties. The defendant doctor determined that the man’s symptoms were behavioral, meaning that they had more to do with the patient’s mental state than with his physical state. In light of this diagnosis, which was later found to be unfounded, the doctor decided that these symptoms did not present any risk to the patients lower or upper urinary tracts.
However, at the time of this visit the urologist failed to order a cystoscopy to rule out bladder cancer. The decedent’s estate alleged that this should have been done because his symptoms in fact were early signs of his cancer. The cystoscopy would have allowed the urologist to examine the bladder and urethra’s interior linings and allegedly led to a timely diagnosis of cancer.
Instead the man’s cancer was not diagnosed until almost two years later. At that time the decedent returned to the same urologist who made the decision to order the cystoscopy, which did in fact reveal a tumor. However, at the time of the diagnosis the cancer was found to be in invasive bladder cancer in its the later stages. Just two years later the man passed away.
Many of us have experienced cancer either first hand or through a close friend or family member. And even though we are not doctors, we can appreciate the importance of a timely diagnosis and the advantage it gives someone fighting cancer. When this advantage is taken aware from us due to medical negligence, this failure to diagnose cancer leaves us feeling cheated. While no amount of money can bring this man back, the settlement represents a form of an apology by the urologist for his alleged medical negligence.
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Illinois misdiagnosis of cancer lawsuits for over 30 years, serving those areas in and around Cook County, including Arlington Heights, Oak Forest, La Grange, and Oak Lawn.
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