Philadelphia Failure to Perform Biopsy Lawyer

Experienced Biopsy Malpractice Attorney in Philadelphia PA Fighting for Your Rights When Doctors Fail to Perform a Biopsy in Allegheny County, Philadelphia County, and Across Pennsylvania

If your doctor has failed to perform a biopsy and your condition worsened as a result, you need the help of an experienced Philadelphia failure to perform biopsy lawyer that understands cases involving failure to perform a biopsy.

Performing a biopsy is a useful way to diagnose conditions that require a deeper examination of tissue to confirm or rule out the presence of cancer, other serious medical conditions. Early detection of the types of conditions in which biopsies are used can dramatically increase your chances of survival. This is why the medical profession views biopsies as being so critically important is for this reason that doctors must order a biopsy if there is any reason at all to suspect something may be wrong.

If you believe your medical condition was worsened by a doctor’s failure to order a biopsy, you should contact a Philadelphia failure to perform biopsy lawyer at Baldwin Matzus, LLC, an experienced Philadelphia, Pennsylvania medical malpractice firm.

Why Failure to Perform a Biopsy is Life-Threatening

Doctors who fail to perform a biopsy 

There are different kinds of biopsies, including bone biopsies, liver biopsies, ultrasound guided biopsies, skin biopsies, and kidney biopsies. The goal of biopsies is to find cancer in its early stages, usually following up on imaging tests the doctor has taken. 

These imaging tests are used to identify abnormal masses, but the imaging test alone cannot go much deeper than that. Medical imaging cannot distinguish cancerous cells from noncancerous ones, which is why it is the standard in the medical profession to then take a biopsy, which gives a definitive diagnosis.

The way a biopsy works is that a sample of tissue cells will be taken from your body and analyzed by a laboratory, sometimes in the same place where you took the test. While biopsies are best known for diagnosing cancer, they can be used to diagnose other conditions as well.

The reason that biopsies are such a fundamental piece of the diagnostic puzzle is speed. Medical specialists agree that finding cancer as early as possible is the most important they can do in the early stages of the diagnostic and treatment process. Biopsies make this early discovery possible. Once cancer or other diseases that could have been found through a biopsy start to spread, options for treating the disease are much more limited as it has spread, perhaps to vital organs.

Establishing a Doctor’s Negligence in a Case Involving Failure to Perform a Biopsy

For any medical malpractice claim, including claims involving failure to perform a biopsy, it is essential to establish the negligence of the doctor responsible for your care. While most medical personnel in the United States are highly qualified and competent, medical errors kill or permanently disable roughly 100,000 Americans each year.

All doctors have a responsibility to provide their patients a thorough and accurate assessment of their condition and to order all of the tests necessary to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. When a doctor should have performed a biopsy but fails to do so in your case and you suffer harm that could have been prevented, they can be held legally liable for their mistake.

Negligence is the legal basis of all medical malpractice claims, including claims for failure to perform a biopsy

At Baldwin Matzus, LLC, our Philadelphia failure to perform biopsy lawyer counsels our clients that in order to bring any valid medical malpractice case, it is not enough to identify that the doctor did not perform a biopsy and you were injured. The mishap must have been due to the medical negligence of a doctor, or other responsible medical professional.

The following legal elements must always be established to show that a medical professional was negligent:

The medical professional had a standard of care to uphold during the procedure. The standard of care is the level of care and skill that is expected of the medical professional. The law looks at what a medical professional with similar training would have done in the same or similar situation. Doctors are trained in medical school to perform biopsies in a wide range of situations where a biopsy is the standard of care for that situation.

The medical professional failed to uphold the standard. Whether by action or inaction, a doctor or other medical professional performs below the standard of care and skill expected of them. This is a crucial point. The medical professional is not only responsible when they act, but also when they fail to act but the standard of care dictates that they should have. This includes all of the steps in properly diagnosing a patient, including an obligation to take a biopsy where needed, and adhering to the best practices of their areas of medical specialization. 

The medical professional’s diagnostic error caused you harm. There has to be a demonstrable connection between the doctor’s failure to take a biopsy (failure to act according to the prescribed standard of care) and your medical condition. If there is no causal link between the two, there is no legal case. Only where your condition could have been known if the medical professional adhered to the standard of care will there be the grounds for a legal case for failure to perform proper testing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Failing to Perform a Biopsy