Hemorrhoids Or Colon Cancer - A Misdiagnosis Leads To Patient's

Hemorrhoids Or Colon Cancer - A Misdiagnosis Leads To Patient's Death And A $1.8 Million Lawsuit

Both hemorrhoids and colon cancer can cause bleeding. Hemorrhoids can be uncomfortable but are not life-threatening. Colon cancer however can kill you. When a patient presents with complaints of rectal bleeding a diagnosis of hemorrhoids, without first performing appropriate tests to eliminate the possibility of cancer, can be fatal. Consider the allegations that were made in the following documented case.

A 37-year-old woman tells her primary care physician that she is noticing blood in her stools. The doctor sends her home with a kit for her to take samples of her school over a three-day period. She returns the material which are examined and found to reveal the presence of occult blood in the stools. Despite the fact that this woman had previously informed the doctor that her father had colon cancer the doctor, rather than ordering a colonoscopy to determine whether the source of the blood was from cancer, instead merely does an examination of the rectum. The doctor found a small hemorrhoid and concluded that that was the reason for the blood in the stools.

Over the course of the next 14 months the woman is seen by this doctor more than half a dozen times. Although the woman had no additional complaints during this time she then reported again seeing blood in her stool. Her symptoms now also included constipation and pain in her abdomen. Once again however the doctor merely examined her rectum. And of course the doctor once again found the hemorrhoid. And so once again the doctor assured her that her problems were due to the hemorrhoids.

After nine months and six more visits the woman is now complaining not only of pain but also diarrhea, cramping, and loose stool. This time the doctor did not even examine her rectum again. The doctor simply stuck to the original diagnosis and once again told her that her problems were all due to the hemorrhoid. When the woman returned two weeks later her primary care physician was not present and the doctor who was covering found no hemorrhoids but noted dark blood showing up on physical examination. This doctor referred the woman for a colonoscopy. The results of the colonoscopy and further testing revealed that she had cancer of the colon which had spread to her liver. She died within two months.

The law firm that represented her family, including her to young children, was able to report a settlement of the resulting lawsuit in the sum of $1.8 million. No doubt the had experts who would have testified that under the circumstances the standard of care required that the primary care physician order a colonoscopy as soon as the woman began to report blood in her stools and that the cancer could have been treated successfully had she been diagnosed at that point.

An analysis of this case reveals certain concerns about the way doctors think about colon cancer. There seem to be some doctors who continue to believe that people can be too young for colon cancer despite the fact that every year there are a certain number of individuals who are diagnosed with cancer of the colon at an age younger than 50. In this case the patient showed two risk factors for colon cancer. First she had symptoms consistent with colon cancer. Second she had a family history. Because certain colon cancers can have a genetic component to them individuals who have a family history of colon cancer are often screened at a younger age than the general population. Yet despite this her doctor insisted that she did not have colon cancer without ever conducting any testing. Whether this doctor did this because of her age or because of the significantly greater prevalence of hemorrhoids over cancer of the colon may never be known. The result however was the tragic death of the woman. This case will hopefully serve to educate doctors regarding the care provided to individuals under similar circumstances.