Late Diagnosis of Cancer in Illinois Woman's Elbow Led to Arm Amputation
When treating cancer the goal is always to obtain as early a diagnosis as possible so as to give the cancer patient the best possible odds. However, sometimes an early diagnosis is not possible. Sometimes there are no warning signs that something is wrong until the cancerous tumors have reached a later stage in development. But sometimes the warning signs are missed and the cancer is misdiagnosed as something else, in which case there would be an Illinois medical malpractice claim for failure to diagnose cancer.
A recent settlement of an Illinois woman illustrates this point. The Cook County resident filed an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit against her orthopedic surgeon for a failure to diagnose cancer in her elbow. The delay in diagnosis required an amputation of her right arm in order to try and halt the cancer from spreading. However, this strategy did not work and the cancer metastasized to other areas of her body within the following year.
In order for there to be an Illinois medical malpractice case regarding a delayed diagnosis of cancer there needs to be evidence in the cancer patient's medical records that medical professionals missed clear signs of the patient's cancer. For this particular woman that sign came in the form of an MRI of her right elbow.
Continue reading "Late Diagnosis of Cancer in Illinois Woman's Elbow Led to Arm Amputation" »
Therefore, when radiation is used, safety rules must be strictly adhered to because sometimes even the most powerful and technicologically complex machines go awry. And while new technology allows doctors to more accurately attack tumors and reduce certain mistakes, its complexity has created new possibiliities for error through software flaws, faulty programming, poor safety procedures or inadequate staffing and training. When those errors and 
Decedent Patricia Quirk was diagnosed with stage three endometrial cancer and received all of her radiation treatments at 
The facts of the case begin when the decedent presented to an otolaryngologist complaining of a severe nose bleed for six days straight. On examination, it was found that the decedent had a 5-millimeter opening to the airway on the right side with severe scarring and a polyp on the anterior part of his right nose. The bleeding was stopped by the doctor through cauterization and the decedent was advised to get a CT scan and referred to another doctor with more expertise. 
This particular 
As early as 1991 the woman underwent a breast biopsy after her left breast showed an area of calcification. While that biopsy returned benign, i.e. non-cancerous results, the results did show atypical ductal hyperplasia. Furthermore, the woman was at an increased risk for developing cancer due to a family history of cancer. 
While memory and concentration problems are common among chemotherapy patients, for most these effects are short-term and their cognitive function returns to normal. However, for about 15 percent of these patients the memory impairment is prolonged. It is these patients who are suffering from chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment, or "chemo brain". 
The decedent's estate claimed that the Alexian Brothers emergency room physician had misread a chest x-ray taken of the decedent. However, the same film was correctly interpreted by a radiologist the following day as showing a lesion on his lung. The hospital failed to notify the decedent regarding the discrepancy in the interpretation. The decedent's family physician became involved in the malpractice after receiving a faxed copy of the correctly interpreted radiology report, but still failed to notify the patient of the relevant findings. 
Early diagnosis is key in fighting all types of cancer, including cervical cancer. In fact, the most common pitfall doctors fall into regarding patients with cancer is 
