Monitoring for Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Preventative monitoring for signs and symptoms of breast cancer allows physicians to detect and treat the disease at an early stage. Unfortunately, when doctors miss the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, the patient may suffer devastating consequences. Your risk for breast cancer is increased by any of the following: older age; personal history of breast cancer; personal history of other breast diseases; family history of breast cancer; prior treatment using radiation therapy; dense breasts; inherited gene mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2; commencement of your menstrual period before age 12; or start of menopause after age 55. If the failure to monitor resulted in a delayed diagnosis of breast cancer, you may be able to sue for damages. The experienced Syracuse medical malpractice attorneys of DeFrancisco and Falgiatano may be able to represent you in your suit.

The primary factors that influence your risk of getting breast cancer are being a woman and growing older. However, some women develop breast cancer even though they don't have risk factors. Doctors usually recommend that their older female patients undergo regular screenings, such as mammograms, for breast cancer.

If you developed an advanced stage of breast cancer because your doctor was not monitoring for signs and symptoms of breast cancer, you may be able to recover damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit for the more expansive and painful treatment required. In order to establish your case, you will need to prove that your doctor owed you a professional standard of care and failed to meet it, thereby causing your injuries and damages. The applicable professional standard of care depends on the circumstances. In New York, the professional standard of care is determined by looking at the accepted medical practices of other reasonably prudent physicians in the same specialty and geographical region. Accordingly, a Syracuse family practitioner’s professional duty when monitoring for signs and symptoms of breast cancer may be different than the duty of an oncologist in Syracuse.

Symptoms and signs of breast cancer your doctor should be aware of include skin changes, changes in the appearance of the breasts, changes in the appearance of one or both nipples, pain inside any part of the breast, nodes or lumps felt on the inside of the breast, or nipple discharge. For example, if you came in with concerns of nipple discharge, your doctor may wish to conduct a differential diagnosis to determine whether the issue is breast cancer or another condition. In that case, he will list all potential diagnoses and try to rule them out with tests. A family doctor’s failure to order a breast biopsy in conducting differential diagnosis may be medical malpractice if another general practitioner in Syracuse would have ordered a biopsy under the same circumstances.

Your doctor may also need to monitor you more closely for signs and symptoms of breast cancer if you've already had breast cancer and went into remission. Once breast cancer is invasive, there may be a thickening of the breasts; redness; pitting the skin on the breasts; changes in touch; peeling or flaking of the nipples; nipple retraction; or itchy irritated breasts. If you notice any of these, it’s important to alert your oncologist right away.

You may be able to recover compensatory damages if your general practitioner, oncologist or other health care provider failed to monitor you appropriately for breast cancer. Once cancer progresses, treatment options may be more difficult and expensive. Your lawyer can discuss the different components of compensatory damages, including past and future medical bills, past and future wage loss, loss of enjoyment, loss of consortium, mental anguish, and pain and suffering.

Nothing can make up for losing a loved one to breast cancer. However, if your spouse, child, or other close family member died as a result of a doctor’s failure to adequately monitor for signs of breast cancer, you may be able to recover pecuniary losses in a wrongful death lawsuit.

If you were harmed or a loved one died due to a doctor’s failure to monitor for signs and symptoms of breast cancer, you should discuss the situation with the seasoned lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. Our firm represents breast cancer patients and their families throughout Upstate New York in Syracuse, Rochester, Watertown, Lowville, Oswego, Auburn, Canandaigua, Wampsville, Ithaca, Lyons, Oneida, Cooperstown, Utica, Elmira, Herkimer, and Binghamton. Call DeFrancisco & Falgiatano at 833-200-2000 or complete our online form.