No one wants to get a cancer diagnosis, but patients would rather hear that they have cancer early on, than get the news when it is too late. This is what happened to one Brooklyn patient. She entered the hospital in Kings County with chest pains. A first-year resident treated the woman, but told her that all tests came back negative. The woman was sent home, but died earlier this year from lung cancer which had spread throughout her body.
Since the woman’s death, the hospital has changed its procedures in the radiology department. Currently, the department requires staff members to report any results that are abnormal, in addition to reports of critical or urgent findings. The hospital also plans to relay test results to outpatients either in person before they leave the facility or over the phone.
Doctors operate under an accepted standard of care and that standard applies correctly reading test results and making accurate and timely diagnoses. When doctors or hospitals breach this duty, patients can suffer grave repercussions, such as a worsened condition or a terminal illness. If doctors do not make a timely diagnosis, patients may miss their window of opportunity to effectively treat an illness. Timing is often critical to a successful recovery.
Patients who are suffer unnecessarily due to a doctor’s failure to diagnose an illness or disease can bring a lawsuit against the responsible party. Unfortunately, for some New York patients, the statute of limitations can work against them, if they do not act quickly or do not discover the misdiagnosis until much later.
A New York failure to diagnose cancer lawyer can be an advocate for injured patients as they pursue a malpractice claim. If a victim dies before a lawsuit can come to fruition against a negligent doctor or hospital, the family of the victim may be able to continue the lawsuit after the patient’s death in order to recover compensation for their loss.
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Failure to diagnose cancer hurt Brooklyn women
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Jay W. Dankner
JAY W. DANKNER was born, raised and educated in Brooklyn, New York. After graduation from law school in 1973, he joined the firm of the legendary, Harry H, Lipsig, under whose tutelage he learned the intricacies of civil litigation and trials. He tried and won his first case against General Motors in a case involving a design defect within weeks after his admission. Thereafter, he focused his attention on the emerging and developing field of law known as products liability litigation.
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