Massachusetts Medical Negligence Results in $1.5 Million Settlement

As a Dedham and Boston, Massachusetts medical malpractice lawyer, I frequently see Massachusetts personal-injury cases that could have been possibly avoided. In the latest example of this, a 65-year-old man was belatedly diagnosed with cancer of the sigmoid colon, which proved fatal.

This case settled prior to trial for $1.5 million, for the delayed diagnosis of colon cancer resulting in death.

The plaintiff claimed that the defendant doctor was negligent in that he failed to offer or perform an annual colon cancer screening. The defendant physician, who acknowledged that the medical standard of care required a colon cancer screening, claimed that he would only have been required to conduct those tests if he had been the patient’s primary care doctor. But he claimed that the man was only a private-pay patient who was only seeing him for blood-pressure checks and he did not want the full services of a primary-care physician.

The patient, after being admitted to the hospital with complaints of abdominal pain, received exploratory surgery, which detected Stage IIIB colon cancer, which later spread to his lungs. He died in 2007.

I see such cases of Massachusetts medical negligence all the time. Right now, most physicians would tell you that it is necessary to get a colonoscopy every five years, and the defendant should have made sure to ask the plaintiff when he had received his last colonoscopy. For healthy individuals who aren’t at high risk for developing colon cancer, screening should begin at age 50. There are several testing methods available, which should be performed every 5-10 years. Ask your doctor about the options for colon cancer testing and how often you should be tested.

If you or a loved one believes that you are the victim of medical malpractice contact us for a free initial consultation. We are “The lawyers who make house calls,” and if necessary we will come to you.