Skin cancer is one of the most widely diagnosed forms of cancer. Melanoma is the most feared and fatal variation, but it can frequently be detected during a standard physical exam. Early detection drastically improves a patient’s prognosis and treatment options.
But when a clinician or specialist overlooks a concerning skin issue or fails to order or properly interpret test results, the disease can spread and worsen an individual’s health outcomes.
If practitioner negligence permitted your skin cancer to progress, consulting an experienced attorney can help litigate your medical malpractice case.
Skin Cancer Diagnosis Issues
Diagnostic failures can occur across various stages of treating a patient. In some cases, a physician simply identifies an evolving mole as harmless without taking a tissue sample.
In other cases, a provider performing a skin analysis may fail to utilize standard clinical criteria, such as symmetry, border regularity, color uniformity, diameter, and evolution.
Other issues include
- A pathologist misreading biopsy specimens and misidentifying malignant tissue as a benign spot
- Mishandling, misfiling, or failing to report abnormal biopsy findings to the patient
- Failing to recommend routine follow-up care for high-risk individuals
Often, individuals with fair skin, a family history of melanoma, or numerous atypical moles are most at risk for skin cancer. Providers must consider the risk factors present in such patients and order testing and imaging when appropriate.
Delayed Skin Cancer Diagnosis and Malpractice
Catching melanoma at Stage I carries a five-year survival rate exceeding 99%, whereas diagnoses made at Stage III or IV see survival rates fall below 35%. Every month a provider fails to detect the cancer allows it to spread past the point of simple treatment options.
This preventable progression can support a medical malpractice claim if you can establish that a doctor’s failures allowed your condition to progress to an advanced stage requiring more invasive treatment.
Successfully pursuing a claim requires obtaining expert testimony establishing that the provider breached accepted medical standards during the diagnostic and treatment process. In skin cancer lawsuits, this generally involves testimony from dermatologists or oncologists demonstrating that a competent practitioner would have performed testing or biopsy earlier, leading to prompt treatment and a significantly better prognosis.
Compensation for a Delayed Skin Cancer Diagnosis
A Philadelphia cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit offers the best avenue for recovering compensation for a delayed cancer diagnosis. These claims provide money for your financial losses (including future care) and personal losses connected to an advanced form of cancer.
You may be able to seek damages for:
- Additional surgeries, including wide local excisions, lymph node removals, or reconstructive procedures
- Immunotherapy, radiation, or chemotherapy needed due to advanced disease progression
- Lost earnings and reduced future earning capacity
- Permanent disfigurement
- Pain and emotional distress
- Decreased life expectancy
- Loss of quality of life
If a doctor’s failure to identify skin cancer promptly caused your illness to worsen, you may have a malpractice claim. Contact Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C. to explore your remedies for holding them accountable.