| Men and women with a family background of colon | | | | ascending colon and cecum as the scope could not |
| cancer as well as people with symptoms are at | | | | be passed beyond the transverse colon. Yet, the |
| higher risk of getting colon cancer. The main | | | | physician who carried out the three colonoscopies |
| procedure used by doctors to check for colon cancer | | | | and followed the woman throughout this period |
| when an inidividual has a family history or reports a | | | | continued telling her that her problems were as a |
| symptom, like blood in the stool, is the colonoscopy. | | | | result of hemorrhoids. |
| Using this procedure doctors can visualize the inside | | | | Eventually the patient went through exploratory |
| of the colon and search for the presence of | | | | surgery as a way to figure out the reason why she |
| abnormal (and possibly cancerous) growths. Besides | | | | was suffering from the symptoms. The cancer was |
| testing patients who are at an increased risk level, | | | | discovered during the surgery. The cancer had grown |
| physicians additionally typically advocate that | | | | and spread so far that the patient had to have a |
| asymptomatic men and women who are fifty or | | | | large fraction of her intestines removed and then also |
| older undergo routine screening in order to discover | | | | needed to endure treatment with chemotherapy. |
| any cancer that might be growing in the colon before | | | | Sadly, even with treatment she passed away from |
| it reaches an advanced stage. | | | | the cancer. Because of the physician's failure to order |
| Yet in order to be reliable a colonoscopy needs to be | | | | additional testing to determine the source of her |
| complete. It should cover the total span of the colon. | | | | symptoms given that there were two incomplete |
| Among the reasons why a doctor may not finish the | | | | colonoscopies the woman’s surviving family |
| colonoscopy is inadequate prior preparation resulting | | | | pursued a lawsuit. The law firm handled the matter |
| in inadequate visualization or the presence of an | | | | was able to report that they were able to get a |
| obstruction which makes it impossible to pass the | | | | recovery for the family in the amount of $875,000 |
| scope beyond the area of the obstruction. If | | | | Doctors use diagnostic tests so as to discover or rule |
| situations like these occur the doctor should inform | | | | out certain diseases. For example, the colonoscopy is |
| the patient and recommend that the person either | | | | a procedure used to locate or exclude colon cancer. |
| undergo an alternative procedure or a repeat | | | | But the test is only as good as the accuracy with |
| colonoscopy. A failure to do so may lead to a missed | | | | which the test was carried out. For the procedure a |
| cancer which could grow and progress to an | | | | physician inserts a scope to see the inside of the |
| advanced stage prior to being found. | | | | colon so as to ascertain whether there are polyps or |
| This is what happened in one published claim involving | | | | tumors in the colon |
| a 54 year old female who passed away from | | | | When the complete colon is not visualized, as in the |
| metastatic colon cancer. Look at her medical history. | | | | lawsuit above, a physician cannot rely on it to |
| The woman had a family history of colon cancer. | | | | exclude cancer. Doing so makes about as much |
| During the length of six years, physicians did 3 | | | | sense as only listening to one of your lungs, |
| colonospies on her. On many occasions she kept | | | | examining only one of your eyes, or ordering only |
| letting her doctors know that she was experiencing | | | | part of a complete blood count. When the patient |
| pain in the abdomen and that she found blood in her | | | | does have cancer this may lead to a delay in |
| stool. Besides the symptoms described above, her | | | | diagnosis that gives the cancer time to grow and |
| doctors, on at least one occasion, additionally | | | | advance to an incurable stage. In a situation like that |
| observed that she had a third symptom of colon | | | | the physician who counted on such a partial |
| cancer - she had anemia. | | | | procedure might be liable under a medical malpractice |
| The notes from 2 of the colonoscopies highlighted | | | | or even wrongful death claim. |
| that there was incomplete visualization of the | | | | |