$2.5 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement for Failure to Diagnose Lung Cancer
Settlement for a Missed Lung Cancer Diagnosis That Led to Death
Over a period of years, a 73-year-old woman experienced transient ischemic attacks, also known as TIAs or “mini-strokes,” that caused temporary paralysis. She eventually suffered a more serious stroke that left her with permanent paralysis on one side of her body.
She visited multiple doctors, including a cardiologist, neurologist, and vascular surgeon, to determine the cause of these episodes. Many diagnostic tests were performed, including CT scans and X-rays. Despite symptoms consistent with a tumor and a long family history of lung cancer, the doctors and radiologists failed to identify a tumor in the upper lobe of her lung.
By the time the tumor was discovered more than a year later, it had grown into a large Stage 3 squamous non-small cell lung cancer that had spread to her vertebrae and spinal cord. Just months later, this mother of three adult children passed away from this aggressive cancer.
After a lawsuit was filed and extensive negotiations took place with the insurance company for the medical providers, Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC secured a $2,500,000 settlement for her surviving family members.
Failure to Diagnose Cancer Cases
A doctor’s failure to diagnose may occur when enough warning signs of a medical problem were present, but the provider did not identify the illness in a timely and appropriate way. Those warning signs may come from the patient’s symptoms, medical history, physical findings, abnormal test results, diagnostic imaging, or other information available to the healthcare team.
These cases are sometimes described as delayed diagnosis, missed diagnosis, or diagnostic error claims. In a serious failure to diagnose case, the condition is eventually found, but only after the patient has lost valuable time, treatment options, or the chance for a better outcome.
Any disease or condition may give rise to a failure-to-diagnose claim, but cancer cases are among the most serious. The American Cancer Society estimates that lung cancer will cause about 124,990 deaths in the United States in 2026 and explains that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the country, accounting for about one in five cancer deaths.
How Diagnostic Errors May Happen in Cancer Cases
Some cancer diagnostic errors occur because symptoms are mistaken for less serious conditions. For example, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, headache, pain, bleeding, fatigue, bowel changes, urinary problems, or unexplained weight loss may be attributed to infection, aging, inflammation, stress, or another explanation when further testing should be considered.
Other cases involve failures in the diagnostic process itself. A provider may fail to order appropriate imaging, misread a CT scan or X-ray, overlook an abnormal report, fail to compare prior studies, delay a referral to a specialist, or fail to follow up with the patient after abnormal results.
When the delay allows cancer to grow, spread, require more aggressive treatment, or become fatal, the case may involve both medical malpractice and, in fatal cases, a wrongful death claim.
Other Cancers That May Be Missed or Diagnosed Late
Although this settlement involved lung cancer, diagnostic errors can involve many types of cancer. Examples include:
- Prostate cancer: According to the National Cancer Institute’s SEER program, approximately 13.2 percent of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lifetime. Symptoms such as urinary problems, back pain, or erectile issues may sometimes be mistaken for aging or other conditions.
- Cervical cancer: Symptoms such as abnormal vaginal bleeding or pain during intercourse may require appropriate evaluation, testing, and follow-up. A delayed response to concerning symptoms or abnormal screening may allow the disease to progress.
- Colorectal cancer: A missed screening opportunity, incomplete evaluation, or failure to follow up on symptoms such as bleeding, bowel changes, anemia, or abdominal pain may delay diagnosis.
- Endometrial cancer: Pelvic pain, unusual bleeding, and other symptoms may require additional evaluation. A delay in ordering appropriate testing may affect the patient’s treatment options.
- Breast cancer: Breast cancer may be found through mammograms, physical exams, imaging, biopsy, or other testing. Diagnostic issues may arise when tumors are missed, dense breast tissue complicates imaging, or abnormal findings do not receive proper follow-up.
- Skin cancer: Melanoma and other skin cancers may initially appear as visible changes to the skin. A provider who fails to examine a suspicious lesion, refer the patient, or order a biopsy may delay diagnosis.
Legal Help After a Missed or Delayed Cancer Diagnosis
Failure-to-diagnose cancer claims often require detailed medical record review, expert analysis, diagnostic-image evaluation, pathology review, and a careful timeline of what doctors knew and when they knew it. These cases are complex because the legal question is not simply whether the cancer was eventually found, but whether earlier diagnosis probably would have changed the outcome.
Since 1990, Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC has represented patients and families in serious medical malpractice and wrongful death cases in Chicago and throughout Illinois. If you believe that you or a loved one was harmed because a doctor failed to diagnose cancer, call 312-243-9922 or contact us for a free case evaluation.
