Can You File a Lawsuit for Ewing Sarcoma that Was Undiagnosed or Misdiagnosed in NJ?
Children experience various cancers, some more often than others. One hazardous childhood cancer is Ewing’s sarcoma, which develops in the tissue and bones. Children between 10 and 20 are the most likely population to contract the disease. Named after Dr. James Ewing in the early 20th century, Ewing sarcoma (EWS) appears as fast-growing tumors in the hip, ribs, pelvis, or long bones, such as the femur, shin, or arm, or in the muscle and soft tissue surrounding the tumor-containing bone. When it spreads, the cancer enters the bone marrow, adrenal glands, and other vital organs like the heart, lungs, and kidneys.
Although childhood cancers are generally uncommon, Ewing’s sarcoma strikes 10% to 15% of adolescents out of all bone cancer patients. And despite advances in cancer treatments, only 30% to 40% of patients survive past the five-year mark once the disease spreads. With early detection, however, 60% to 80% of Ewing’s sarcoma patients survive five or more years.
Why Early Diagnosis of Ewing’s Sarcoma is Critical
The significant gap in survival rates results from time. Since Ewing’s sarcoma tumors grow rapidly, early detection allows treatment before tumors grow and spread to other body areas. The longer the tumors remain in the body, the more likely they are to spread, increasing the length and intensity of treatment and lowering the chances of surviving the disease. As such, healthcare professionals must recognize the cancer symptoms early to prevent metastasis or spread, and to choose the proper treatment. Which methods work best depends on the size and location of the tumors and if they have spread.
Main Reasons for Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose Ewing’s Sarcoma
Since Ewing’s sarcoma is a childhood condition, doctors may misdiagnose the symptoms for common childhood pain and injury causes. Given the disease is rare (only 16,000 patients under 20 receive a cancer diagnosis), doctors may consider more common conditions that cause swelling and pain in the arm or leg like growth, accidents, and infections. Also, younger children are often unable to describe the characteristics and location of their pain accurately.
A doctor may not further diagnose the condition or misdiagnose it as some other condition, causing the disease to spread. If further testing is standard practice and would have revealed a Ewing’s sarcoma tumor, the treating physician may be deemed negligent in delaying a correct diagnosis that would result in earlier treatment.
Where Does Ewing’s Sarcoma Usually Develop?
Although this type of cancer may start in any bone, a tumor typically originates in the pelvis and femur or shin bones. However, tumors can also arise in the arm at the humerus, ribs, or collarbone. Less frequently, the cancer can start in the soft tissue in and around the belly, arms, or chest.
A tumor of any origin results from genetic mutations when normal cells turn to multiplying Ewing’s sarcoma cells on bone or tissue. This type of cancer is not hereditary, nor the result of environmental factors, so the mutation cause is unknown.
How does Ewing’s Sarcoma Spread?
Researchers understand that Ewing’s sarcoma progresses when certain parts of chromosomes 11 and 22 fuse, which activates the Ewing’s sarcoma gene. Once turned on, the cells multiply rapidly, forming a tumor that grows at a bone or tissue site. As it grows, it loses pieces that travel through blood or lymph to other bones or tissue surrounding vital organs.
Ewing’s Sarcoma is Commonly Mistaken for Other Conditions
Children experience pain in their legs and pelvis when they go through growth spurts. A ten-year-old child may complain that their leg hurts, and a doctor may consider their age and history to assume the common condition of growing pains. Active athletes may also be injured on the soccer or baseball field, which could appear as pain, tenderness, and swelling in the arms or legs.
Other potential causes for the pain, swelling, fatigue, and fever that come with Ewing’s sarcoma may appear to be an infection, tendonitis, bone infections, or other common conditions, so a doctor may have to rely on diagnostic tools other than a physical exam and review of the patient’s history to verify their initial assessment.
Diagnostic Methods for Ewing’s Sarcoma
After an initial consultation about symptoms, a physician performs a physical exam and reviews the patient’s medical history. To rule out possible diagnoses, a doctor will order tests, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CTs that scan the bones and tissue, which may reveal the tumor. Once detected, the physician should follow up with a biopsy of the tumor to confirm the specific type of cancer diagnosis and blood tests to check for metastasis.
Options to Treat Ewing’s Sarcoma
Once the healthcare team runs tests and identifies whether the cancer has spread and how far (stage I, II, III, or IV), they can develop a treatment plan, taking into consideration the patient’s health, age, history, and medical tolerance. They also consider the anticipated path of the disease, its location, and its stage. Considering these factors, treatment may include surgical removal of the tumor, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, antibiotics, and, in very few cases, amputation of an arm or leg, installation of a prosthetic, rehabilitation, side effect care, and monitoring.
Determining if You can Sue for Ewing’s Sarcoma Malpractice
A physician’s delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis can affect the treatment course and outcome. Treatment errors may also result in diminished survival odds. When medical negligence leads to your child’s extended treatment or death, you as their parent may file a pediatric malpractice or wrongful death lawsuit for damages. Your child over 18 may also file a lawsuit to recoup for pain, suffering, and economic damages.
Essential Elements to Prove a Ewing’s Sarcoma Malpractice Lawsuit
Proving a medical malpractice claim takes legal knowledge and understanding of the way that courts, medical negligence laws, and the rules of evidence work. The essential elements of a medical malpractice claim are duty, breach, causation, and damages. Those break down to supplying evidence that a medical professional had a doctor-patient relationship and, thus, a duty to practice medicine within the professional medical standard of care with regard to the patient’s diagnosis and treatment. Further, failing to practice medicine up to acceptable standards means that a provider is negligent, whether it be in the form of misdiagnosis or failure to treat appropriately, which causes the patient’s injuries.
Recoverable Compensation for Children Harmed by Ewing’s Sarcoma Negligence
If successful, you can recover economic and noneconomic losses due to your child’s complications or death resulting from medical negligence. All medical bills paid, owing, or arising in the future are examples of economic damages. Any lost wages or out of pocket expenses that a child’s family incurred due to the child’s injury (prolonged treatment, lost limbs, and the like) or will likely incur in the future, are also included in economic damages. Non-economic damages include emotional losses like pain and suffering.
How can an Experienced Lawyer Assist with Your Child’s Ewing’s Sarcoma Malpractice Lawsuit in New Jersey?
Locating the most knowledgeable and experienced pediatric malpractice lawyer can alleviate the burden of filing and proving your child’s Ewing’s sarcoma malpractice case. Our New Jersey child medical malpractice attorneys use decades of legal background concentrating on pediatric malpractice law to identify and prove negligence, support our clients’ claims through medical experts, assess the totality of damages, and work tirelessly to negotiate or litigate these cases to recover full compensation. Our invaluable service in planning out the course of your claim, dealing with medical records, lawyers, judges, defendants, legal challenges and procedures, and experts, and supplying proof of fault and causation of your child’s injuries, can change an otherwise overwhelming and confusing battle into a burden off your shoulders and ultimately, justice and the compensation your family deserves. Contact us at 866-708-8617 to speak with an attorney who can answer your questions, address your concerns, and help you move forward with a Ewing’s sarcoma malpractice claim.