cancer misdiagnosis

[miss_nicole]

i live in Ontario Canada and about a year ago my mother was starting to lose her voice and she had a small lump in her throat. she went to the emergancy room and was told by a doctor that she had a viral or bacterial infection and gave her a mouth rinse and some pain killers. the problem didn't go away. my mothers, sister in law was diagnosed with throat cancer june of 2004. 3 weeks before she passed away, my mother went to visit her. my mother noticed that the lump in her throat was the same as my aunts tumor. my mother went to the hospital and was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer and was told that she was high risk for surgery and they estimated that she had 3-6 months to live. i believe that if the first doctor to examine my mother had have done a proper examination we would have been able to fight the cancer at its earlyer stages. do you think my family & my mother have a medical malpractice case against the first doctor?


~nicole~

 

[rmet4nzkx]

This is for US laws.

You give no time time for you mother.

Did your mother go back to her pcp when the lump did not respove?

Consult an attorney in Canada to review the case. It sounds like your mother failed to seek further care after her visit to the ER.

 

[ellencee]

Medical malpractice requires significant damages that would not have otherwise occurred. In cases such as this one, the outcome would likely have been same with an earlier diagnosis. There is the theory of last chance or best chance to have changed the outcome; it may be a reason to investigate the records and the tumor/prognosis/treatment.
EC

 

[panzertanker]

i live in Ontario Canada and about a year ago my mother was starting to lose her voice and she had a small lump in her throat. she went to the emergancy room and was told by a doctor that she had a viral or bacterial infection and gave her a mouth rinse and some pain killers. the problem didn't go away. my mothers, sister in law was diagnosed with throat cancer june of 2004. 3 weeks before she passed away, my mother went to visit her. my mother noticed that the lump in her throat was the same as my aunts tumor. my mother went to the hospital and was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer and was told that she was high risk for surgery and they estimated that she had 3-6 months to live. i believe that if the first doctor to examine my mother had have done a proper examination we would have been able to fight the cancer at its earlyer stages. do you think my family & my mother have a medical malpractice case against the first doctor?


~nicole~

Even though this is Canadian, and you need a Canadian lawyer, I will say:

How long had she been "losing her voice" before she went to the ER?

Did she have fever, sore throat or anything other than "losing her voice and a lump in her neck"?

So many ambiguous statements....but as Ellen said, the probable end result would have, unfortunately, been the same. Throat and neck CA is usually aggressive, and would require radical neck dissection, which you a=state she is in no medical condition to tolerate.

I am sorry for your loss.