Physicians - Conduct A Colonoscpy If Patient Has Rectal Bleeding Or Might Face A Legal Claim

Guidelines concerning cancer screening and testing when an individual exhibits symptoms suggestive of colon cancer are in place for a good reason. Following the guidelines saves lives. In the event that a doctor does not comply with these recommendations and the patient does have cancer which eventually ends up metastasizing because of the resulting holdup in detecting the cancer, that physician risks a lawsuit. To illustrate such a situation consider the following published lawsuit.

At the time the individual in this case first started treating with his primary care physician the physician conducted a general physical examination and documented his findings of both internal and external hemorrhoids. The physician recorded that the individual had bleeding from the rectum occasionally. The doctor did not do any further testing to figure out if there was any blood in the patient's stool or to determine the source of the bleeding. Also, despite the fact that the man was 50 years old at the time, the doctor did not send the individual for a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy so as to screen for colon cancer

After 2 years, following several days of abdominal pain the man was seen in the urgent care department at his doctor's office. The nurse who did the examination put an entry in his medical chart that she detected occult blood in the man's stool during a guiaic test. When the individual returned for a follow-up with his physician but the doctor did not do anything about the blood previously found in his stool. The doctor did however suggest that the patient have a screening sigmoidoscopy and referred him to a gastroenterologist.

The gastroenterologist performed the sigmoidoscopy as requested by the doctor instead of a full colonoscopy. The gastroenterologist only examined up to 35 cm and noted only hemorrhoids none of which were bleeding. The gastroenterologist did not determine the reason for the prior finding of blood in the stool.

On a visit to the internist 2 years later the man complained of bloating of the abdomen. During the physical examination of the man, the physician could feel an a mass on the liver and ordered a CT scan. The CT scan found large masses present both in the liver and also the colon:. At this point the internist finally referred the patient for a colonoscopy which found colon cancer. By this point, the patient had stage IV colon cancer which was so advanced that he was no longer a candidate for surgery. The individual began treating with chemotherapy but died just over a year following his diagnosis.

The man's family pursued a lawsuit against both physicians. The law firm that handled this case announced that they were succesfull in achieving a settlement for $1.5 million on behalf of the man's family. This matter demonstrates the importance of conducting proper tests for symptoms that suggest the possibility of colon cancer. In particular if a patient has blood in the stool physicians usually acknowledge that a colonoscopy rather than a sigmoidoscopy ought to be performed to eliminate the possibility cancer. By performing just a sigmoidoscopy in this instance the doctors did not check the full length of the man's colon and hence inappropriately eliminated colon cancer as a possible source for the blood. This resulted in a 2 year holdup before the patient's cancer was ultimately diagnosed. The law firm that represented the family no doubt had medical experts able to testify that had such a delay not occurred the patient's cancer would not have metastasized and the man would have survived after treatment.