The kidneys are two organs located behind your abdominal organs on either side of your spine. Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that originates in the kidneys. The most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, but there are also uncommon types, including types that children are more likely to develop. It is possible to detect cancer early, when it is located only in the kidneys and has not spread. Unfortunately, health care providers sometimes make errors or missteps that result in a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, or failure to treat. If you were harmed by a doctor’s failure to properly diagnose or treat kidney cancer, you should talk to our Upstate New York kidney cancer lawyers. DeFrancisco and Falgiatano may be able to help.
Kidney CancerThe mutation of kidney cells can result in kidney cancer. Abnormal cells may form a tumor. Sometimes they break away and spread to other parts of the body. There is a greater risk of kidney cancer with smoking, obesity, long-term dialysis to treat chronic kidney failure, inherited syndromes, family history, inherited medical issues, and older age. Symptoms of kidney cancer include inexplicable weight loss, blood in the urine, fatigue, persistent pain in the side or back, loss of appetite, and fever. To diagnose kidney cancer, doctors may use urine tests, blood tests, x-rays, MRIs, or ultrasounds. It is important that your health care provider catch kidney cancer as soon as possible to avoid metastasis and improve the likelihood of a favorable outcome.
LiabilityNot every mistake related to kidney cancer constitutes medical malpractice. You may be able to hold a doctor accountable for medical malpractice for a failure to diagnose, a misdiagnosis, or improper treatment if the doctor’s conduct breached the professional standard of care, causing injuries.
The professional standard of care applicable to your situation depends on your health care provider’s specialty and geographic region. For instance, if you are alleging that your oncologist did not properly treat you for diagnosed kidney cancer, a kidney cancer attorney in Upstate New York would need to show that your oncologist did not do what reasonably competent oncologists would have done when faced with the same circumstances. Health care providers can breach the professional standard of care by failing to list kidney cancer as a potential diagnosis in a differential diagnosis, failing to order tests that would allow a diagnosis of kidney cancer to be made, misinterpreting test results or imaging, failing to follow up on test results, failing to provide a referral to a specialist, failing to provide the proper treatment for kidney cancer, or failing to monitor or follow up after treatment.
Even before filing your medical malpractice lawsuit, we will need to consult a licensed doctor who is knowledgeable in issues relevant to kidney cancer and can determine that there are reasonable grounds to sue. In New York, a certificate of merit attesting to this consultation needs to be filed with the initial complaint.
DamagesAssuming that our Upstate New York kidney cancer attorneys can establish liability, we will be able to recover economic and non-economic damages on your behalf. Economic damages may include medical expenses, lost income, replacement services, and out-of-pocket expenses. These include past, present, and future tangible losses. We will need to show that all these expenses were reasonably necessary and were legally caused by your provider’s professional negligence. Non-economic damages include loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, and pain and suffering. Your spouse may be able to recover damages for loss of consortium or the intangible elements of a marriage, such as companionship and affection, as a result of the harm that you suffered due to a provider’s professional negligence.
If a loved one was killed as a result of a health care provider’s failure to diagnose or treat kidney cancer, you may be able to recover damages in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Retain a Medical Malpractice AttorneyAn Upstate New York doctor’s failure to diagnose or treat kidney cancer can result in serious harm or even death. If you suspect that you were injured or that a loved one was killed due to medical malpractice, you may be able to sue to recover damages. You should talk to the kidney cancer lawyers at the Upstate New York firm of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano about your situation. We represent kidney cancer survivors and families of the deceased in Syracuse, Rochester, Oswego, Lyons, Oneida, Wampsville, Cooperstown, Ithaca, Binghamton, Auburn, Canandaigua, Watertown, Elmira, Utica, Herkimer, and Lowville. Call our firm at 833-200-2000 or complete our online form.