$1.4M Settlement For Failure To Diagnose Prostate Cancer Recurrence: On September 27, 2022, a Virginia medical malpractice case involving the failure to timely diagnose recurrence of prostate cancer in a man in his early sixties who had previously undergone a radical protastectomy was resolved during mediation for $1.4 million. The man died at age 65 five weeks after the settlement was agreed upon.
The man had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that was treated by the removal of his prostate. The surgeon then followed the man for several years to monitor him for any recurrence of his prostate cancer. The man’s primary care physician subsequently took over the cancer surveillance.
The man’s PSA level (prostate-specific antigen) was under .2 ng/ml for several years, indicating that there was likely no recurrence of his prostate cancer. However, his PSA rose over a period of years, of which his primary care physician failed to advise him. Once the man accessed his test results in his patient portal, he became aware of his rising PSA levels. But by then it was too late – he was subsequently diagnosed with extensive metastatic disease.
The man’s Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit alleged that his primary care physician breached the applicable standard of care by failing to order a sufficient number of PSA tests, by failing to interpret the PSA tests results, and by failing to take timely and appropriate actions based on the PSA tests results. The man argued in his Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit that had the defendant primary care physician correctly and timely interpreted his rising PSA test results and taken the appropriate action, he would have been diagnosed with recurrent prostate cancer at a time when it would have been highly curable and treatment would have been effective.
According to the American Cancer Society:
Because prostate cancer often grows very slowly, some men (especially those who are older or have other serious health problems) who have it might never need treatment. Instead, their doctors may recommend observation (sometimes called watchful waiting) or active surveillance:
Active surveillance is often used to mean monitoring the cancer closely. Usually this includes a doctor visit with a PSA blood test about every 6 months and a digital rectal exam at least once a year. Prostate biopsies and imaging tests may be done every 1 to 3 years as well. If the test results change, the patient’s health care provider would then talk to him about treatment options to try and cure the cancer;
Observation (watchful waiting) is sometimes used to describe a less intensive type of follow-up that may mean fewer tests and relying more on changes in a man’s symptoms to decide if treatment is needed. This treatment is most often meant to control symptoms from the cancer, but not to cure it.
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