Malpractice Lawsuits Regarding Stage 4 Prostate Cancer And Doctor Recommended Watchful Waiting

Doctors typically utilize two tests to screen men for prostate cancer. The thought is to detect the cancer early - before it has a chance to spread while treatment can be used to cure the cancer instead of waiting until the cancer progresses and spreads and is no longer curable. The first is a physical examination of the prostate gland for any abnormalities that might be caused by prostate cancer. The second is a blood test known as the PSA test. An high result signifies the possibility of prostate cancer.

If an issue other than prostate cancer triggers the PSA level to increase the heightened PSA is termed a “false positive.” There are also potential complications associated with biopsies, including excessive bleeding and infection. Because of these two facts some physicians advise that male patients use a strategy of “watchful waiting.” Under such a plan the doctor tracks the man's raised PSA over a period of months or years. They may likewise recommend starting treatments such as medication for infection to see if such treatment lowers the PSA.

The problem with this method is that the doctor may wait too long without ordering any additional tests to evaluate if the high PSA level is a result of prostate cancer. If waiting leads to the spread of the cancer to areas outside the prostate capsule then the patient will lose the chace for a cure Men with prostate cancer who have a PSA level below 10 ng/mL have between 70 to 80 percent possibility of having organ-confined disease, as opposed to 50% for men with PSA levels 10 to 50 ng/mL, and only twenty five percent with higher PSA levels

Treatment options for advanced prostate cancer may include hormone therapy, radiation therapy, orchiectomy (the surgical removal of the testicles), and possibly chemotherapy. Treatment will normally lead to a major decrease in the PSA levels for some time. Over time, though, treatment will no longer keep the cancer at bay. At this point the cancer will again start spreading. This is typically associated with a new rise in the PSA level. Once the treatment no longer works, the cancer again starts spreading and eventually kills the man. This year, an estimated 90,000 men will lose their lives in the U.S. due to advanced prostate cancer.

How many of these 90,000 deaths will be due to a physician advising the manhis patient to follow the "watchful waiting" method and then waiting too long to finally diagnose the cancer? Perhaps we might never know how many of these deaths could have been prevented had the physician instead recommended the patient get a biopsy.

By taking a “watchful waiting” strategy and only keeping track of a man's high PSA, a doctor places the man in danger of letting time go by while the cancer gets to an advanced, possibly untreatable, stage. This might constitute a departure from the standard of medical care and may result in a medical malpractice claim.