As most of you already know, Presidential hopeful John Edwards’ wife, Libby, announced yesterday that her breast cancer (invasive ductal) had returned and was now incurable. Mrs. Edwards’ breast cancer first surfaced several years ago but has returned and apparently metastasized into her bones. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. Edwards and her family.
The tragic story got me to thinking about breast cancer in general and the frequency of which this terrible disease goes undetected or mis-diagnosed. My firm has represented woman who breast cancer should have been detected and treated but it didn’t happen. The failures typically occurred as a result of negligently handled biopsies, poor pathology lab work, or dropped communications between medical specialists or between physician and patient.
Read what the Chairman of one of the country’s largest medical malpractice insurers, The Doctors’ Company, has to say on lawsuits for failure to diagnose and treat breast cancer.