Young colorectal cancer patients may receive misdiagnosis ...
Getting a proper diagnosis in a timely manner can be the difference between life and death for some patients. People who are suffering from an unknown illness rely on their physicians to properly diagnose and treat them. When doctors fail to properly diagnose patients, they may be held responsible through a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Many people with colorectal cancer must visit multiple physicians before they receive an appropriate diagnosis. Colorectal cancer typically affects people over the age of 50. However, the disease has begun affecting more young people. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, from 1998 to 2007, colorectal cancer rates among people 18 to 49 increased by about 2 percent.
One woman was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the age of 43. However, she was misdiagnosed several times before then. Without proper treatment, she remained sick and was even forced to drop out of her pediatric residency program. She finally did receive chemotherapy to treat the cancer. However, her cancer returned two more times, and she still feels the affects of the chemotherapy. She often considers whether her life would be different now if she had been diagnosed sooner.
When doctors see people under the age of 50 who are experiencing symptoms similar to colorectal cancer, they often diagnose them with another medical condition. In order to aggressively fight the disease, some believe doctors should test patients for colorectal cancer no matter how young they may be. Doctors are hesitant to do that, though, because the screenings are so invasive.
"If you are talking about looking at hundreds of thousands of people in their 30s and 40s for testing, the numbers of cancer cases you would find would be so small compared to the harm that you could cause some people through testing," the director of prostate and colorectal cancers at the American Cancer Society said.
Some conclude that physicians must get better at determining which patients need to be tested for the disease. A family history of the disease, obesity, a high-fat diet and a sedentary lifestyle all increase a person's risk of developing the disease.
No matter the disease, doctors must do all that they can to properly diagnose their patients. A misdiagnosis could leave people with a more serious condition. It could even lead to premature death.
Source: The Baltimore Sun, "More younger people getting colorectal cancer," Andrea K. Walker, July 29, 2012
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