Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit
Women are most likely to beat ovarian cancer when diagnosed in the early stages. Unfortunately, many providers overlook telltale signs of the illness and fail to listen to their patients’ concerns. These mistakes can be catastrophic and ultimately cost women their lives. The ovarian cancer misdiagnosis attorneys at Levin & Perconti can help you fight back if you or a loved one has been harmed by a health care provider’s subpar care. We’ve won over $1 billion for our clients, and now we’re ready to help you demand the financial accountability you deserve.
Ovarian cancer can be an aggressive disease. The best way to beat ovarian cancer is by ensuring it is diagnosed in its early stages. Unfortunately, research suggests that about 70 percent of ovarian cancer cases aren’t diagnosed until late stages. Often, this happens because health care providers miss important signs of the illness or fail to consider a patient’s growing concerns.
If your ovarian cancer was misdiagnosed or not diagnosed on time, it’s essential to understand your rights. The experienced cancer misdiagnosis lawyers at Levin & Perconti can help you take action, hold your negligent health care provider accountable, and work to recover a meaningful financial award on your behalf.
When you choose Levin & Perconti, you put a team of award-winning trial attorneys with 200 combined years of experience in your corner. As leaders in medical malpractice and cancer misdiagnosis litigation, we’ve helped clients like you recover over $1 billion in settlements and jury awards.
Now we’re ready to help you fight back after your ovarian cancer misdiagnosis. Call our law office in Chicago, Illinois, to connect with a member of our top-rated legal team. Your first consultation is free.
How an Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyer Can Help You and Your Family
If your doctor missed crucial signs of ovarian cancer and missed the diagnosis, you should not have to struggle with the costs and consequences on your own. You deserve justice and can achieve it by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against your health care provider for their life-changing mistake.
Like other types of medical malpractice lawsuits, cases involving cancer misdiagnosis can be incredibly complicated. And unfortunately, the laws in most states are designed to protect doctors and hospitals more than help injured patients like you.
Don’t give up hope. Hiring an experienced medical malpractice attorney can set you on the path to the financial victory you need and deserve.
At Levin & Perconti, our cancer misdiagnosis attorneys are known and respected for taking on these challenging legal disputes and winning big for our clients.
When you turn to us for help, you can trust us to handle every aspect of your ovarian cancer misdiagnosis case while you focus on figuring out a plan for the future. We will do the following:
- Thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding your medical care to determine how and why your doctor missed the ovarian cancer diagnosis
- Enlist the help of oncologists, ovarian cancer specialists, rehabilitation specialists, and other experts as we build and value your lawsuit.
- Obtain and analyze medical records, internal provider communications, provider policies and procedures, and other evidence to support your case
- Interview witnesses, members of your medical team, and other parties with information to support your case
- Ensure all procedural requirements, including filing deadlines, are satisfied
- Represent you during all conversations and negotiations with your provider, the hospital, the insurance company, and other parties
- Explain the benefits and drawbacks of any settlement offers you may receive
- Bring your ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit to trial if the defendant refuses to take your case seriously
You’re going through an incredibly difficult time, but you’ll get through it. Levin & Perconti will be there to help every step of the way.
Call our law office in Chicago, Illinois, to learn more about the benefits of working with our award-winning medical malpractice attorneys. We offer a free consultation, so contact us today.
Understanding Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis and What it Means for You
Every year, more than 19,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. These diagnoses often come later in life, after age 63.
About 40 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will not survive. Statistically speaking, 36 women die from ovarian cancer every day.
Research suggests that many of these late diagnoses and deaths could potentially be avoided if health care providers were more aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease in its early stages.
According to Dr. Barbara Goff, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, “many health care providers are seemingly unaware of the symptoms typically associated with ovarian cancer.” As a result, “misdiagnosis remains common.”
Misdiagnosis can have catastrophic consequences for women. If ovarian cancer is not identified in its early stages, the disease can grow and spread within the body. The more the disease spreads and multiplies, the less likely the chances of survival. Women are then susceptible to painful complications, reduced quality of life, and death.
When doctors miss early signs of this often-deadly disease, it can potentially be malpractice. Malpractice refers to a doctor’s failure to provide care that meets accepted standards within the medical community.
Health care providers, particularly those specializing in oncology and ovarian cancer, should be able to identify early signs of the illness. When signs and symptoms are spotted early on, providers can perform additional diagnostic tests like pelvic ultrasounds and CA125 blood tests to confirm or rule out the presence of ovarian cancer in a patient.
If your doctor missed early signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer or attributed those issues to another medical condition, it’s important to speak with a qualified ovarian cancer misdiagnosis attorney near you.
Misdiagnosis is one of the most common types of medical malpractice. Health care providers must be held accountable when they fail to use the level of knowledge, skill, and care expected of them. Your attorney can help you build a compelling legal claim, prove your ovarian cancer was not diagnosed properly, and fight for a substantial monetary award for you and your family.
Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis
When you first develop ovarian cancer, your body will begin to exhibit different signs and symptoms of the illness. Some of the most common symptoms of ovarian cancer are:
- Bloating
- Early satiation, or getting full quickly, while eating
- Abdominal pain
- Changes in bowel movements and diarrhea
- Heightened fatigue.
Health care providers often refer to these as the BEACH symptoms.
Other signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer include:
- Nausea
- Indigestion
- Abdominal cramping
- Abdominal swelling
- Increased urge to urinate
- Bloating
- Constipation
- Pain during sex
- Reduced appetite
- Vaginal discharge
- Bleeding
Since there is no standardized diagnostic test for ovarian cancer, you and your health care provider need to be alert to the different symptoms that might indicate the presence of the disease. These symptoms can manifest in the early stages or later on during the illness’s progression. When multiple symptoms are present, your provider must take proactive steps and test for the disease. Failure to do so can be considered medical negligence.
The Legal Implications of Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis
Ovarian cancer is a devastating illness. Early diagnosis and intervention are critical to survival. Unfortunately, many health care providers aren’t taking the time to listen to their patients and miss telltale signs of the illness.
If ovarian cancer is not diagnosed immediately or misdiagnosed, the negligent health care provider can be held legally accountable for resulting damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Damages Available in an Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit
Damages can include money for the following:
- Medical bills
- Nursing assistance
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Chronic physical pain
- Lost wages and income
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Funeral and burial expenses
Punitive damages are also available if you prove your doctor’s conduct was intentionally harmful or grossly negligent.
Elements of a Successful Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit
For an ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit to be successful, you’ll need to prove each of the following:
- Your health care provider owed you a duty of care.
- The health care provider missed important signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer, breaching the duty owed to you.
- The health care provider’s actions resulted in a misdiagnosis of your ovarian cancer.
- You have suffered damages as a result.
Would another doctor of the same experience and specialty have caught your case of ovarian cancer early on by listening to your concerns and identifying early signs of the disease? If so, you may have a solid legal argument that your doctor was negligent.
Time Limits For Filing a Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit
Do not wait too long to take legal action if you believe your ovarian cancer was misdiagnosed. Time limits, known as statutes of limitations, apply to your ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit. Depending on where you live, you may have anywhere between one and four years from when your illness is discovered to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Some states also have statutes of repose, which put absolute limits on the amount of time to file suit, regardless of when the cancer is diagnosed.
For example, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice lawsuits in Illinois is two years from the date of discovery. However, the state also has a statute of repose, providing that all medical malpractice claims must be filed within four years of the providers’ negligence. Once four years have passed, you will no longer have the right to sue your provider for their misdiagnosis.
Choosing the Right Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyer
Medical malpractice lawsuits can be overwhelming and intimidating. After all, your doctor, their hospital, and the insurance company have considerable resources at their disposal. Medical malpractice laws often make it difficult for patients to successfully hold their negligent providers accountable for their mistakes.
Make life easier by hiring an experienced ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawyer near you. Hiring a lawyer puts you on a level playing field and increases the odds of a meaningful financial victory. However, your choice of attorney matters. It could be the difference between a nominal payout and a life-changing settlement or jury award.
That’s why you’ll want the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti standing beside you. The following qualifications are what set us apart from other firms:
- We’ve been fierce advocates for victims of malpractice and grieving families across the country since our founding in 1992.
- Our attorneys have 200+ years of combined experience handling complex legal cases like yours.
- We’ve won over $1 billion in settlements and verdicts for our client.
- Our attorneys have been recognized as Best Lawyers in America in the field of medical malpractice, Chicago Lawyer Magazine’s Illinois Top 100 Attorneys, Super Lawyers, and Leading Lawyers: Top Lawyers in Illinois.
- We’re tough negotiators who aren’t afraid to reject lowball offers and bring cases to trial.
- There’s absolutely no cost to hire our ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawyers unless we win your case.
Our legal team is known and respected for achieving some of the country’s top results in medical malpractice and cancer misdiagnosis cases. In 2020, our firm secured a Top 50 Medical Malpractice Settlement.
More recently, Levin & Perconti recovered a confidential sum from a physician who failed to perform an annual pelvic exam. This error resulted in the untimely diagnosis of ovarian cancer, which caused our patient undue pain and suffering.
You trusted your health care provider to listen to you and keep you safe. They violated your trust and changed the course of your life forever. Levin & Perconti is here to help you hold them fully accountable for the harm they’ve caused.
Call our ovarian cancer misdiagnosis attorneys to learn more about your case and how we might be able to help you maximize your recovery. Your first consultation is free, so reach out to get started today.
Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis FAQ
If you’ve discovered that your doctor misdiagnosed your ovarian cancer, you probably have many questions about your rights, your future, and the legal process ahead of you. Levin & Perconti has the answers you need.
What Is an Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit?
An ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit is a civil claim against a health care provider for damages. These types of lawsuits allege that a doctor failed to diagnose a case of ovarian cancer because they were negligent. Through the lawsuit, the victim or a surviving family member seeks compensation for resulting damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, and emotional distress.
How Is Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosed?
The signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer can mimic other medical conditions. Often, ovarian cancer is misdiagnosed because doctors either fail to recognize these symptoms or attribute them to other illnesses.
When symptoms are ignored or missed, this prevents doctors from ordering necessary diagnostic tests to either confirm or rule out the presence of ovarian cancer. Other times, doctors misinterpret or ignore test results.
The result: a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of the disease.
Many women who suffer a delayed diagnosis of their disease claim that their doctors ignored their complaints, rushed care, or failed to listen carefully to their concerns.
Who Can File an Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit?
You may have the right to file an ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit if you:
- Exhibited signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer that were dismissed or overlooked by your health care provider
- Were subsequently diagnosed with ovarian cancer
For a lawsuit to be successful, your doctor’s mistakes must have been a direct and proximate cause of the misdiagnosis.
You may also have the right to file an ovarian cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit if a loved one has died because their health care provider missed their illness.
Don’t try to take on your doctor or a hospital alone. Help is available, and Levin & Perconti has the resources and experience you need to achieve top results. Call our law office to discuss the details of your ovarian cancer misdiagnosis case today.
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Not only were they so professional but also so caring and thoughtful. It was very difficult going over the facts in our mother's case but they were so compassionate and understanding and allowed us to be with them every step of the way. We were able to sit in on the depositions and we were really able to see how hard they worked on our behalf.
During that time, my family and I suffered the loss of my mother. Mr. Levin and Mr. Perconti were more than just our lawyers. Words can’t really express our gratitude.
They were most patient and responded timely to many questions throughout the entire process. All demonstrated professionalism and extensive knowledge of case and state laws. Their in-depth investigative work uncovered details which were unknown to us and yet sadly confirmed our suspicions. We would recommend the Levin and Perconti Law firm and especially this team.
During that time, my family and I suffered the loss of my mother. Mr. Levin and Mr. Peconti were more than just our lawyers. Words can’t really express our gratitude. My family and I will always be grateful for the compassion that they showed us. I want to thank you for what you did for my family, and for always being there for us.
Margaret’s representation, guidance, and professionalism gave us the sense that we could put our trust in Levin & Perconti and the final outcome proved that to be true.
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Notable Results
SETTLEMENT
for failure to properly read pap smears, resulting in the misdiagnosis of cervical cancer and eventual death of a 35-year-old mother of three children.
SETTLEMENT
for failing to biopsy a known breast tumor, resulting in the delay of diagnosis of breast cancer, causing death.
SETTLEMENT
for failing to perform an annual pelvic exam, which resulted in the untimely diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
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