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Every year, over 1.6 million cancer cases are diagnosed in the United States. Unfortunately, many patients suffer cancer misdiagnosis from their doctors. The consequences of which can be fatal. Even a delayed diagnosis might mean the difference between life and death.

Do you know that you can seek legal redress for the suffering you get due to a missed or incorrect diagnosis? The New York cancer lawyers will carefully review the details on your case, answer your queries, and help you determine the next cause of action. With their expertise, these medical malpractice lawyers have recovered millions of dollars for individuals and families that have suffered from medical negligence.

Here are the main reasons why you need to engage cancer lawyers in New York City.

1. The Harm That a Cancer Misdiagnosis Can Cause

Imagine walking to a hospital and the doctor informs you that you're suffering from cancer? How would you feel if this diagnosis turns out to be false?

A false cancer diagnosis subjects patients to expensive and painful treatments. For instance, cancer treatments like radiation and chemotherapy are harmful to people who don't require them in the first place.

But that's not all. Apart from the pain, cancer treatment options are also very expensive. At times, your medical cover may not even cover the entire cost of treatment. Now imagine going through all this hassle only to later realize that you didn't have cancer?

2. Helps You Understand Your Legal Rights as A Patient

As a patient, you have certain rights that are protected by law. For instance, during the treatment process, you may experience some legal issues with your employers, insurance companies, and government benefits. Unfortunately, these legal issues lead to stress thus creating an overwhelming situation for the patient. When you fail to address these issues, you may come through the treatment, only to find that you've lost your job, house, and insurance.

But first, do you have any right as a cancer patient? Of course, yes! These are some areas where you have legal protection:

• Protection for adequate care and quality treatment from your doctors
• Protection against unfair treatment from your health insurance policy
• Protection against any form of discrimination in your workplace due to the cancer disease.

The three areas cover a bit of ground, therefore, cancer patients should fully understand and internalize their rights before starting their medication. That's the only way to ensure that your rights as a patient are guaranteed.

3. Failure to Diagnose Cancer Costs Lives

Cancer as a disease takes a huge toll on a person and the people they love. For instance, cancer claims the lives of 600,000 people in the U.S every year. That's roughly 1,643 people every day.

However, early cancer detection and treatment improves the chances of survival for the patient. Therefore, delayed or missed can unnecessarily increase the patient's suffering or require more aggressive treatment. At times, it may lead to death.

These are the potential causes of delayed or missed cancer diagnosis:

• The doctor diagnosis a cancerous mass as noncancerous
• The doctor misses a cancerous lesion in a biopsy
• A doctor fails to conduct the correct and proper cancer testing
• The medical staff improperly handles, read or interpret specimens
• The doctor fails to acknowledge or understand the patient's complaints
• The medical staff fails to adequately screen people who are highly susceptible to the disease
• A cancerous tumor is incorrectly graded or classified as aggressiveness

 Remember, early detection and treatment increase the patient's chances of survival. When a misdiagnosis affects the patient's prognosis, the doctor or the medical staff can be held liable for the damages the patient suffers. A competent cancer lawyer will help you get justice for this and ensure that there's enough compensation for lost wages, medical treatment, diminished quality of life, therapy, pain, and suffering.

Conclusion

Cancer is among the leading killer disease in the country. The chances of survival are high when the disease is detected and treated early. Therefore, a delayed or misdiagnosis may make the difference between life and death. Luckily, you may seek legal redress against the concerned doctor. When doing this, look for a competent lawyer capable of handling your case. Such a lawyer should have an in-house medical staff to carefully review your records and carefully explore every possible source of recovery.