Delayed diagnosis of cancer of the prostate incidents are all too common. One typical medical mistake that is at the root of these cases arises when the male patient’s primary care physician (1) actually screens the individual for prostate cancer by tracking the amount of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) in his system, (2) finds abnormally high levels of PSA and but (3) does not inform the patient, does not refer the patient to a specialist, and fails to get a biopsy to confirm whether the elevated PSA is a result of cancer of the prostate. The reported lawsuit discussed below illustrates this situation.

A physician, an internist, discovered that his male patient had a PSA of 8. (anything above a 4.0 is normally viewed as high). The physician did not inform the patient. The physician did not refer the patient to a urologist. The doctor did not order a biopsy. Two years later the doctor repeated the PSA test. This time it had gone up to 13.6. Again, the doctor said nothing to the patient. Again, the doctor did not refer the patient to a urologist. And again, the physician did not order a biopsy. Two years later the doctor repeated the PSA test.

It was not until three years after first finding out about the patient’s elevated PSA level that the physician at last advised him that he probably had cancer. Further testing showed that at this point he had metastatic cancer. A prostatectomy was no longer an option. Treating physicians alternatively recommended radiation therapy and hormone therapy. Neither of these would cure the cancer but they might impede its advancement and further spread. The law firm handling this matter reported that the case proceeded to mediation and settled in the amount of $600,000.

But not following up after observing abnormal test results brings about a situation in which those patients who do actually have prostate cancer might not find out they have it until it has spread outside the prostate, decreasing the patient’s choices for treatment, and substantially reducing the chances that the patient will be able to survive the cancer.

As the above claim illustrates physicians sometimes comply with the guidelines by performing screening for cancer of the prostate yet when the test results are abnormal they fail to do anything about it.

Joseph Hernandez is a lawyer acceping medical malpractice cases. Learn more about prostate cancer cases at http://www.prostatecancerlaw.com

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Some chemo brain symptoms include:

- Forgetting recent events. Events you should remember.
- Forget multi tasking. If you try to do more than one thing, one of them gets lost.
- Everyday tasks, like paying bills, are now much more difficult.
- You are easily distracted. So things now take you three times longer to complete.
- Learning new things is much harder.
- Concentrating is difficult.
- Losing your train of thought in the middle of a conversation.
- Fumbling over words in the middle of a sentence.

These are the chemo brain symptoms reported the most.

Have you tried telling your family and friends yet? How about your employer? It’s hard to find the right words. They give you polite nods. But you know what they are thinking. Their forefinger is tracing circles near their temple.

Do you try to hide your chemo brain symptoms from your family, friends and employer? Trying to cover up your forgetfulness? Covering the humiliation of not remembering the promises you made? Trying to pretend you are normal. This takes a lot of energy. By the end of the day you are mentally and physically exhausted.

Do you have coping strategies and tactics to help you get through the day? Like keeping lists. Do you write everything down? Like grocery items, things to do, and doctors comments so that you can read them up later.

Do you have a system for putting your keys in the same place all the time so you can find them? How about the remote? Do you always remember you have a system to help you remember?

Do people get frustrated with you? With your inability to do things as you did before? Are you afraid you are going to lose your job? That’s a huge amount of weight and stress on your shoulders.

How long can you go on like this?

Wouldn’t it be grand if there was a way to put all that behind you? Imagine if you could get your mind back into the shape it was before chemo? Maybe even in better shape?

There are drugs you can take that may help you with your symptoms. Your doctor may be able to prescribe them for you. But what if you don’t want any more drugs?

There is another solution to help overcome chemo brain symptoms. It is a certain type of brain training.

I invite you to investigate brain training software that has helped others with chemo brain symptoms. Many have reported improvements in just a couple of weeks. I think you will be presently surprised at the progress you can make.

Thousands have trained their brains to think again? Why not you?

Learn how others have triumphed over chemo brain at http://www.chemobrain.info

Many report improvements in just a few weeks. Get relief now! You deserve it, don’t you think?

Yet, there is still debate amid some doctors over the way to screen asymptomatic male patients for prostate cancer or whether to screen at all. They hold that screening has little, if any, value. If of a screening test is abnormal the patient needs to be informed about the results and either be referred to a specialist or be told about the option for diagnostic testing, like a biopsy. Once more, however, some doctors also believe that, at least under certain circumstances, a man diagnosed with prostate cancer does not have to undergo treatment right away and simply needs to carefully monitor the cancer.

If the doctor does not give the patient the option to undergo screening or does not tell the patient about the abnormal test results the patient’s prostate cancer may spread and metastasize without the man even knowing he may have cancer. Unfortunately, if a physician noted that the patient’s prostate was enlarged or there was a nodule on the gland and the PSA test results suggested abnormally high levels of the antigen and the physician did not notify the man of the abnormal results, the individual would in all likelihood assume that meant there was no need to follow up. If the patient does actually have cancer, not informing the patient that he may have cancer will postpone his diagnosis.

A delay might, in turn, give the cancer time to reach an advanced stage. Once a cancer metastasizes treatment will at best delay the progression of the cancer and lower the effects (like pain) of the cancer. Under such circumstances, that patient and his family might be able to pursue a failure to diagnose medical malpractice lawsuit against the physician.

Screening tests may have false positives. This means that certain patients with abnormal screening results will not have cancer. But doing screening tests for cancer is meaningless if there is no follow up as it gives the patient a false sense of security thinking that he has no cancer as the doctor tested him and said nothing to him that the tests demonstrated he might have cancer. Doctors generally concur that there is a need for follow up if the results of screening tests come back as abnormal.

Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on catastrophic injury and medical malpractice cases. Learn more about metastatic prostate cancer cases at http://www.prostatecancerlaw.com

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