We have been involved in numerous medical malpractice cases involving the failure to timely diagnose and treat prostate cancer. We typically see clients who have experienced an elevated PSA test result and either the family doctor or urologist fail to take note of this significant indicator of the presence of prostate cancer. As a result of this failure, the untreated cancer spreads outside of the prostate gland to more critical organs leading to death or greatly shortened life-expectancy.
The first line of defense for these doctors when confronted with a medical negligence case is to assert that an elevated PSA level does not require any medical treatment – only “watchful waiting” to see if the PSA continues to rise or if other indicators of cancer are present. Now, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) seems to refute the watchful waiting approach and encourages patients to consider treatment options at the earliest opportunity.