Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among new male diagnoses and causes the second-highest number of male cancer-related fatalities, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. While the widespread prevalence and clear danger posed by prostate cancer makes it all the more important to understand and accurately diagnose it, misdiagnosis events are also not uncommon. An inexperienced or inattentive medical team may review a man’s symptoms and mistake them for another, less serious medical condition, like a bladder infection or erectile dysfunction.
To improve the chances of an accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer, men should record all of their experienced symptoms in a journal. Self-diagnosis is not encouraged and often unsafe. However, it is a best practice for men to be able to recognize the most concerning signs of prostate cancer, allowing them to seek medical attention when appropriate.
Symptoms that may indicate prostate cancer growth include:
- Urinating noticeably more than usual
- Urinating only small amounts each bathroom trip
- Pain when urinating
- Awakening in the middle of the night often to urinate
- Blood or discoloration in urine
- Erectile dysfunction with no other diagnosable cause
How Can Prostate Cancer Be Misdiagnosed?
The symptoms of prostate cancer seem to be fairly obvious, but misdiagnoses can and do happen. Inexperienced and untrained medical providers may not be able to realize the severity of the symptoms, putting the patient at risk of furthered unchecked cancer growth. A negligent medical provider may also fail to recommend their patient to a specialist, either due to not understanding the symptoms or due to secondhand embarrassment related to the sensitivity of the subject.
To get an accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer, an oncologist and a urologist’s input may be necessary. Men should be wary of any primary care physician who does not want to refer to either of these medical specialists when exhibiting symptoms that appear to indicate a prostate problem.
Did Your PCP Misdiagnose Your Prostate Cancer?
Men who have suffered the health consequences caused by a prostate cancer misdiagnosis should not be content with suffering in silence. Instead, they should seek trusted legal counsel, discover their rights as an injured and mistreated patient, and demand compensation as deserved.
Golomb Legal, P.C. is proud to be a leading name in Philadelphia when it comes to medical malpractice and cancer misdiagnosis cases. Our experience, skills, and tenacity have allowed us to recover more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements for our clients throughout the years. If your doctor has misdiagnosed your prostate cancer and your physical and mental health worsened because of it, we would like to hear from you and see if we can assist with your claim.
Call (215) 278-4449 to connect with our medical malpractice attorneys and begin your case.