Doctors are not magicians; they cannot simply look at someone and know what ails him or her. However, doctors and medical specialists are highly educated professionals who must complete years of training before practicing medicine. Consequently, we generally expect that doctors and other medical professionals will act with a reasonable degree of skill and competence. We assume that if they will take the appropriate steps to diagnose and treat whatever medical condition a patient suffers from.

But what happens when a doctor fails to diagnose a serious condition like cancer? Can failure to diagnose be the basis of a medical malpractice claim?

Early Diagnosis of Cancer is Key to Beating the Disease

The sooner cancer is detected, the sooner treatment can begin. When cancer is recognized early, doctors can start treating the cancer before it has a chance to spread throughout the body. When a cancer diagnosis is delayed, the cancerous cells have more time to spread and the chances of survival decrease. Screening tests like mammography, colonoscopy, CT scans, and blood tests can often detect the signs of cancer. When a doctor fails to order the appropriate tests, a patient may have cancer and not even know it.  

Parents expecting a new baby may feel increasingly anxious as the due date approaches. This concern is understandable. After all, there are nearly countless things that can go wrong during an infant’s birth. Asphyxia, or lack of oxygen, is one of the most common types of birth injuries suffered by newborns. Many different problems can cause a baby to be deprived of oxygen. Sometimes, these problems are the direct result of medical negligence during birth.

Causes of Birth Asphyxia

Babies in the womb receive oxygenated blood through the umbilical cord. When the baby is born, he or she takes his or her first breath and no longer relies on the mother’s blood for oxygen. Unfortunately, many different problems can arise during this transition which deprive the baby of oxygen. The longer the baby’s brain is deprived of oxygen, the worse the consequences.

Birth asphyxia may be caused by:

Breast cancer treatments are constantly evolving towards more effective methods with less significant side effects. Women in Illinois who are diagnosed today with breast cancer, especially those whose cancer is caught early, stand a much better chance of survival than cancer patients even in the more recent past. 

But even the most effective treatment is dependent on correctly diagnosing cancer in a timely manner. Doctors, radiologists, and oncologists must take the responsibility to provide their patients with a standard of care seriously. When medical providers make mistakes, act negligently, or otherwise cause a misdiagnosis or inappropriate course of treatment for breast cancer, they may be held liable for the consequences. Here are some of the most promising emerging breast cancer treatments available today. 

HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

For a long period of time, HER2 breast cancer was one of the most difficult types of breast cancer to treat. A new drug, trastuzumab, specifically targets HER2 receptors and has improved treatment outcomes significantly, especially when combined with chemotherapy. HER2-positive breast cancer is still challenging because not every patient receives the same benefit from trastuzumab and doctors must be particularly careful to assess a patient’s likelihood to need aggressive treatment methods. 

Every day, thousands of women across the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time. One of the most common and well-understood types of cancer, breast cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the cells of breast tissue of both men and women, although it is seen far more frequently in women. 

If you have received a breast cancer diagnosis, you likely already know that a large team of medical staff is going to help you throughout your treatment and recovery. Each part of your Chicago cancer treatment team, whether doctors, nurses, oncologists, or radiologists, are responsible for providing treatment according to the established standard of care. 

Unfortunately, this does not always happen successfully. Breast cancers are often misdiagnosed, mistreated, or missed altogether. To optimally treat breast cancer, it must be caught as early as possible and the patient given an effective testing and treatment regimen. Understanding how and when breast cancer diagnosis and treatment may involve medical malpractice is important for ensuring you get the best quality treatment available. 

When someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, there are a number of tests that can indicate what kind of cancer it is, how quickly it is likely to progress, and which treatment options may be more successful than others. This can be an overwhelming amount of information for breast cancer patients and patients must put their trust in the hands of a qualified medical team. 

Unfortunately, doctors, nurses, radiologists, and other medical staff do not always exercise an adequate standard of care, and breast cancer patients can suffer when their cases are misdiagnosed or otherwise not managed appropriately. Lives are tragically cut short every day because of breast cancer malpractice, and doctors are responsible for doing everything in their power to keep this from happening. 

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you are probably learning as much as you can. One important test you may want to know more about is the Ki-67 proliferation marker test. For a brief overview of this topic, and how it may contribute to an understanding of your breast cancer diagnosis, read on.