Cervical cancer, unlike ovarian cancer, can be diagnosed early enough to provide effective treatment. Key facts about cervical cancer include:

• In the U.S.A. -- 14,500 new cases and 4,900 deaths from cervical cancer are reported each year
• Worldwide - cervical cancer is second only to breast cancer as most common malignancy in both incidence and mortality
• 1/4 of cervical cancers in women greater than 60 years
• Failure-to-diagnose cervical cancer produces 14% of the "failure-to-diagnose" claims for malpractice

Physician errors leading to misdiagnosis of cervical cancer include:

• The physician's failure to act on an abnormal PAP test result
• The physician's failure to realize no PAP test report has come back (fell between the cracks)
• The physician's failure to specify a follow-up interval to the patient
• Physician or staff failure to document positive or negative PAP test results

Because cervical cancer can be diagnosed at an early stage and because viable treatments exist, a medical-legal investigation by an attorney may be appropriate wherever there has been a failure to diagnose or timely treat cervical cancer. <back

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© 1999 CHARFOOS & CHRISTENSEN, P.C. Updated: April, 2006