Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be devastating. However, not being diagnosed with breast cancer when you have it can be even worse. But how are breast cancer misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis cases handled?
We asked attorney Dan Hodes to define these types of cases. According to Hodes, "Breast cancer delay in diagnosis cases essentially comes in four different forms. Number one would be the situation where a woman discovers a lump on examination. A mammogram is ordered, which comes back as negative."
What about when there is no lump?
Finding a lump in the breast is one thing. But what happens when there isn't a lump? Hodes explained, "Not all breast cancers are picked up on mammography. A small percentage of cancers are not seen on mammography. So the question then becomes, should the clinician follow up further, or is it reasonable, under that circumstance, for that physician to conclude that in the face of a palpable mass with a negative mammogram that breast cancer does not exist?"
"The standard of care does require more in the face of a palpable mass and a negative mammogram. The standard requires an ultrasound, and if that mass still persists, a biopsy. So, scenario number one is the failure to follow up on a clinically palpable mass in the face of a negative imaging study."
Scenarios 2, 3 and 4
There are other scenarios that are also common, however these involve different situations. Hodes explained, "Scenario number two is a situation where there may or may not be a palpable mass, but the mammogram and/or ultrasound study is misread. And that happens, unfortunately, not uncommonly."
"Scenario number three is a situation where a biopsy is misread. Again, that happens more often than it should. There would be a fourth scenario; that would be the situation where a surgeon, in attempting to do a biopsy, simply doesn't get the lesion which he or she sought to get. That happens with some frequency as well. Those would be the four commonest scenarios, the first three being more common, and the fourth being the least."