Treatment and Screening Guidelines for Cervical Cancer

Whether you go to see your doctor for a routine screening or with symptoms such as abnormal bleeding, you trust that you will be diagnosed and treated competently. Treatment and screening guidelines for cervical cancer can be critical to early detection. Moreover, early detection of cervical cancer can result in more positive outcomes. It can feel like a betrayal to find that your doctor may not have followed the appropriate guidelines to avoid injuries. If you were harmed as a result of your doctor’s mistakes in screening or treating your cancer, you should discuss your case with the experienced Upstate New York cancer malpractice lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano.

Many different organizations have put forward treatment and screening guidelines for combating cervical cancer. When these guidelines are followed, precancer may be detected, and if it is treated adequately, cervical cancer may be prevented altogether. Generally, screening for cervical cancer should commence by age 25 in the form of a primary HPV test every five years. Screenings should not be stopped because a woman has children. When this type of test is not available, screening can take another form, such as a combination HPV and Pap test every five years, or a Pap smear every three years. There are patients who are at a higher risk of cervical cancer for various reasons, such as because their immune systems are suppressed.

Your age is relevant to the type and frequency of screenings that are appropriate. If you suspect that your doctor failed to follow treatment and screening guidelines, and as a result you were harmed by a failure to detect or treat cervical cancer, you should call an experienced cancer malpractice lawyer.

It can be difficult to know when cervical cancer malpractice has occurred. Different screening guidelines may be used, depending on where in Upstate New York your doctor practices. Often, doctors defend themselves on the basis that the harm would have occurred regardless of their actions. One of the first critical questions that we will need to retain an expert to answer is whether your health care provider deviated from the pertinent professional duty of care. In order to prove a case for cervical cancer malpractice, we will need to show: (1) the defendant was obliged to adhere to a professional duty of care toward you, (2) the defendant deviated from the professional duty of care, (3) the deviation caused your injuries, and (4) you suffered actual damages.

Under New York law, the professional standard of care hinges on what reasonably competent doctors who practice in the same specialty and location would do when faced with similar or the same circumstances. Your doctor’s failure to abide by the treatment and screening guidelines for cervical cancer that other reasonably competent Upstate New York doctors in the same specialty would follow may constitute malpractice.

In most cases, our attorneys must hire an expert on diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer in order to figure out what the professional duty of care was, given your particular circumstances. Even before we file your lawsuit, we will work up your case by consulting a licensed doctor who is knowledgeable about the relevant factors in your case in order to determine whether your case has merit. Under New York law, we need to file a certificate of merit attesting to this consultation when we file your complaint.

If we can establish liability for cervical cancer malpractice based on your doctor’s failure to diagnose or treat your cancer according to the relevant guidelines, we may be able to recover compensatory damages on your behalf. Compensatory damages are intended to make you whole. They can include medical bills, lost wages, mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium. If a loved one died as a result of a doctor's malpractice, we may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit for the pecuniary losses arising out of the malpractice.

A health care provider’s failure to follow treatment and screening guidelines for cervical cancer can have grave consequences. If you were injured by your doctor, you should talk to the seasoned Upstate New York lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. We provide legal representation to injured patients and their families in Syracuse, Rochester, Ithaca, Oswego, Wampsville, Canandaigua, Lyons, Cooperstown, Oneida, Auburn, Binghamton, Lowville, Watertown, Elmira, Utica, and Herkimer. Call DeFrancisco & Falgiatano at 833-200-2000 or complete our online form.