Breast cancer is highly treatable when caught early, with five-year survival rates near 99% for localized tumors. But that only happens with timely and accurate diagnosis.
When a doctor fails to diagnose cancer in Philadelphia that a careful provider would have caught, the disease can advance for months or years before treatment begins. This, in turn, can transform cancer from a curable condition into a fatal one.
Delayed or Missed Diagnosis Involving Breast Cancer
A delayed or missed diagnosis in Philadelphia happens when a provider fails to identify a disease at a point when reasonable care would have detected it.
It can take several forms:
- Misreading a mammogram or ultrasound and labeling it normal
- Dismissing a palpable lump as a cyst or benign tissue without further testing
- Failing to order follow-up imaging, a biopsy, or a specialist referral
- Misinterpreting a biopsy sample as non-cancerous
- Ignoring symptoms in younger patients because cancer seems unlikely
These errors can often be traced to hasty medical assessments and communication breakdowns between the team of providers analyzing the patient. Unfortunately, these mistakes allow a cancer to keep growing while the patient believes they are healthy.
What Are the Consequences of a Missed Breast Cancer Diagnosis?
A diagnosis delayed by months or years can allow the disease to progress from an early, localized stage to one that has spread to the lymph nodes or distant organs.
The progression minimizes treatment options and may trigger the following:
- More aggressive treatment, such as mastectomy and chemotherapy
- Spread (metastasis) that may make the cancer incurable
- A significantly lower chance of survival
- Death that earlier treatment might have prevented
Pennsylvania law recognizes this harm through the “increased risk of harm” theory, which lets a patient seek compensation and legal accountability when a provider’s delay raises the risk of more serious cancer.
Who Could Be Liable for Failing to Diagnose Breast Cancer?
In delayed diagnosis cases, more than one provider may share responsibility, depending on where the breakdown occurred.
Potentially liable parties include:
- Radiologists who misread imaging
- Primary care physicians or OB-GYNs who failed to investigate symptoms or order tests
- Pathologists who misinterpreted a biopsy
- The hospitals, imaging centers, or practices that employed them
Proving a provider’s liability requires showing that their actions and decisions fell below accepted medical standards and that the failure caused the patient’s condition to worsen. In Philadelphia malpractice claims, testimony from medical experts is required to establish the standard of care and show how the provider deviated from it.
What Compensation Can a Patient Recover in a Diagnostic Error Claim?
A patient harmed by a missed diagnosis can pursue compensation through a medical malpractice claim. The claim will focus on the additional damage the delay caused, including:
- Past and future medical bills for more extensive treatment
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Diminished quality of life
- Reduced life expectancy
If the patient dies due to the missed diagnosis, the surviving family may bring wrongful death and survival claims to seek money for the deceased’s pre-death losses, as well as their own financial and personal losses related to the death (e.g., funeral expenses, lost financial support, and loss of companionship/guidance).
If you believe a delayed breast cancer diagnosis harmed you or someone you love, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Call Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C. at (610) 825-0500 for a free consultation to learn more about your rights.