Failure to Diagnose Nephrology Cancer

Nephrologists are kidney doctors who undergo extensive training to look at whether the kidneys are properly functioning to filter blood and produce urine to excrete the waste. Signs or symptoms of kidney issues can include swelling, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, seizures, drowsiness, smaller amounts of urination, and proteinuria. Kidney cancer is among the serious diseases that impact one or both of a patient’s kidneys. Unfortunately, primary care physicians, nephrologists, radiologists, and staff members of medical practices sometimes miss this cancer. If you were harmed by a failure to diagnose nephrology cancer, you should call the trustworthy Syracuse medical malpractice lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys.

Potential problems that can arise with the kidneys include acute renal failure, chronic renal failure, excess protein in the urine, blood in the urine, UTI, kidney stones, dialysis, and electrolyte imbalances. Nephrologists can use differential diagnosis and the tools used to test each potential diagnosis; these tools include urinalysis, blood work, diagnostic imaging, or biopsies. Sometimes a different kind of specialist is brought in to assist the nephrologist. Even with the many tools available, some nephrologists fail to diagnose kidney cancer or misdiagnose it. Nephrologists who don’t properly diagnose and treat their kidney cancer patients, may inflict lifelong harm or even death. It is important to talk to a doctor if you have permanent injuries as a result of nephrology malpractice.

Like other kinds of cancer, kidney cancer requires an early diagnosis and treatment to make sure you receive the best prognosis possible. You may be unsure whether your doctor’s failure to diagnose cancer counts as medical malpractice. Whether a particular mistake is actionable can be a contentious issue within lawsuits; doctors sometimes defend themselves by arguing that a patient would have gotten sicker and had the same outcome regardless of whether or not they had diagnosed the kidney cancer in a timely fashion. It is crucial to retain a lawyer who understands which nephrologists can provide knowledgeable and credible opinions about the consequences of a provider’s failure to diagnose, including whether metastasis, in which the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, could have been prevented with an earlier diagnosis and whether that earlier diagnosis could have been reached had accepted medical practices in Upstate New York been followed. When a patient’s nephrology cancer progresses, he or she may suffer a lower quality of life and need subsequent expensive and invasive procedures.

In order to establish medical malpractice, our medical malpractice lawyers will need to establish: (1) you were owed a professional duty of care, (2) breach of the professional duty of care, (3) causation, and (4) actual damages. The professional standard of care owed under the circumstances depends on your doctor’s specialty and the geographic region. For instance, the steps that constitute a nephrologist’s adherence to the professional standard of care in Syracuse when a patient presents symptoms of kidney cancer may be different than the one owed by a primary care provider in a different state.

A delay in cancer diagnosis can wreak emotional and physical havoc with a patient and their family. Often a significant financial burden is incurred. A successful medical malpractice lawsuit can result in a damages award that compensates for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. A decedent’s spouse and child may be able to recover lost inheritance, funeral expenses, and more in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a personal representative of the estate.

If you were injured or a loved one died because of nephrology malpractice, call our trustworthy Syracuse medical malpractice lawyers to determine whether you have a viable claim. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys has more than 30 years of experience seeking best results for patients in Oswego, Lyons, Albany, Oneida, Canandaigua, Lowville, Auburn, Buffalo, Utica, Rochester, Wampsville, Watertown, Herkimer, Ithaca, Cooperstown, Elmira, Binghamton, and all of Upstate New York. For a free consultation, complete our online form or call us at 833-200-2000.