Phoenix Cancer Misdiagnosis Wrongful Death Lawyer

The only thing worse than a cancer diagnosis is receiving the diagnosis when the cancer has progressed past the first stage due to an earlier misdiagnosis. When a doctor or other medical provider fails to diagnose cancer due to medical negligence, it often means more advanced disease requiring more aggressive treatment protocols due to the delay. In the worst outcomes, a cancer misdiagnosis leads to a shortened life expectancy and the patient’s death.

If your family member died from cancer that could have been successfully treated if not for an initial misdiagnosis, you can give your loved one a voice for justice. Call the Phoenix medical malpractice lawyer at Knapp & Roberts to learn about your family’s right to financial accountability.

What Are the Common Causes of Cancer Misdiagnosis In Arizona?

Arizona’s civil court describes medical negligence as “the failure to comply with the applicable standard of care.” Unfortunately, misdiagnosis is one of the most common types of medical malpractice in Arizona and elsewhere. Frequent causes of misdiagnosis in cancer cases include the following:

• Failing to order the appropriate diagnostic tests
• Misinterpreting test results
• Laboratory or imaging errors
• Spending inadequate time with a patient or failing to obtain a complete patient history
• Communication errors between medical facilities, such as failure to send or obtain complete medical records
• Failing to refer to a specialist
• Clinical bias, or assuming that a patient’s condition is a common illness
• Failure to follow up

Most cancers are treatable in the earliest stages. A timely diagnosis facilitates informed choices and the most successful treatment options. A cancer misdiagnosis may mean the patient missed the window to stop the disease while it’s still localized and contained. A delay in treating cancer often leads to the patient’s death, which could have been prevented with a prompt diagnosis and targeted early treatment.

What Are the Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Cancers?

When a doctor misses early cancer signs and symptoms or fails to order or accurately interpret diagnostic tests while the cancer is localized or in stage 1, the cancer may metastasize, making successful treatment more difficult. Cancer metastasizes when cancerous cells break away from the initial tumor and migrate to local lymph nodes (stage 2), and then to distant lymph nodes (stage 3) and finally to other organs (stage 4). Common misdiagnosed cancers include the following:

• Lung cancer
• Breast cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Lymphoma
• Melanoma 
• Ovarian cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Cervical and uterine cancers
• Mesothelioma and other cancers related to toxic exposures

The most commonly misdiagnosed cancers are often those with symptoms that mimic other conditions. For example, a doctor may misdiagnose a patient who has a chronic cough from early lung cancer as having a respiratory virus that’s circulating in the area due to their clinical bias or presumption. By failing to order the proper diagnostic tests and/or failing to follow up with the patient, the cancer may metastasize before the patient receives the correct diagnosis, causing more advanced disease, fewer effective treatment options, and sometimes wrongful death.

Who Is Liable for Cancer Misdiagnosis In Arizona?

When we experience symptoms and seek medical treatment, we put our lives into the care of the medical providers, anticipating high-quality medical care. Unfortunately, doctors and medical facilities sometimes make careless errors or oversights that cause a cancer misdiagnosis, resulting in treatment for the wrong condition and disease progression. 

Determining liability requires an investigation. The medical provider or facility’s medical malpractice insurer investigates the incident, with the goal of protecting company profits and the provider’s reputation, while the claimant’s attorney investigates to prove liability. Proving liability requires evidence that demonstrates the following standards of malpractice:

• A doctor/patient relationship was established when the malpractice occurred
• The doctor owed a legal duty of care to treat the patient at the medical community’s accepted standards
• They breached this duty due to negligence
• The breach of duty caused harm to the patient, or the patient’s death
• The patient and/or their surviving family suffered damages from the malpractice

Common liable parties in cancer misdiagnosis wrongful death claims include doctors, hospitals, clinics, and pathology labs, depending on where the negligent action occurred.

Who Can File a Cancer Misdiagnosis Wrongful Death Claim in Arizona?

Like other states, Arizona limits wrongful death claims only to those close family members who experience the economic consequences of the death as well as the grief and anguish. Under Arizona 12-612, only a surviving spouse, parent, or child may file a wrongful death claim, including in medical malpractice cases. If none of the above files a claim, then the personal representative of the decedent’s estate may file on behalf of the estate, after which the amount recovered is distributed according to the terms of the decedent’s will or the state’s inheritance laws.

What Can My Family Get By Filing a Cancer Misdiagnosis Wrongful Death Claim?

When you’ve suffered the preventable loss of a loved one, taking on a legal challenge can feel overwhelming. However, a successful claim not only recovers the compensation a grieving family may need to prevent financial hardship from the death, but also brings the family a sense of justice. Successful wrongful death claims in Arizona recover common damages such as the following:

• Reimbursement for medical expenses and out-of-pocket costs
• Funeral and burial costs
• A family member’s lost wages for time off to assist the ailing loved one and during bereavement
• The lost income and benefits of the decedent for the remaining earning years they would have had left to them had they not died
• Loss of household services
• Compensation for the decedent’s pain, suffering, and fear of imminent death
• Compensation for the family’s grief and anguish
• Compensation for loss of a spouse’s companionship and consortium, or the love and support of a parent or child

While no legal process returns a lost loved one, a successful claim after a cancer misdiagnosis wrongful death demands financial accountability from the at-fault party and gives the lost loved one back a voice for justice.

How Can a Cancer Misdiagnosis Wrongful Death Lawyer Help My Family?

Most wrongful death claims end with a settlement from the negligent doctor’s or hospital’s insurance company. Unfortunately, insurance companies are not on your family’s side and may actively undermine your claim by delaying, disputing, or devaluing your compensation. Instead of leaving your case in their hands, call or contact Knapp & Roberts for a free consultation and assertive legal representation from start to finish with your family’s compensation as our primary purpose.