Mistakes In Chemotherapy

When a patient has been diagnosed with cancer, a doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer, called an oncologist, may recommend that the patient undergo chemotherapy in an attempt to kill, stifle the growth of, and stop the cancer from spreading. Whether chemotherapy will be prescribed depends on several factors, such as the stage, type of cancer, and the patient’s health. Reactions to forms of chemotherapy vary from patient to patient.

Medications for cancer may be given alone or in combination with other treatments in an effort to boost their effectiveness when fighting cancer. Chemotherapy may be received before, during, or after other types of cancer treatments have been administered. Treatment may be given through an IV, a shot, a pill, a liquid, or a cream. The patient could receive treatment every day, week, or monthly.

Chemotherapy is a difficult process to endure on its own. Adding the trauma of a medical error can make it much worse. Some of the effects of chemotherapy treatments include:

• Anemia
• Bleeding problems
• Diarrhea
• Hair loss
• Memory changes
• Nausea
• Pain
• Skin and nail changes
• Urination changes

Additional complications can occur when medical errors are committed during the administration of chemotherapy. Doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff assisting with the administration of the drugs can be responsible for making these errors. Chemotherapy errors include:

• Failure to communicate properly
• Failure to monitor the patient
• Incorrect dose administration
• Incorrect packaging
• Incorrect prescription of medications
• Mislabeled medications
• Mixing up medications

Chemotherapy mistakes can be serious, and even deadly. This is especially true if the mistakes are not discovered quickly enough. Since chemotherapy uses powerful drugs in order to kill cancer cells, an overdose may have very serious consequences to other parts of the body.

If you believe that a medical professional did something wrong, and that mistake led to radiation damage or chemotherapy related illness, then you may have a case for medical malpractice. When a patient sues for medical malpractice they are attempting to get damages from the medical professional who hurt them. However, these are difficult cases to win. Therefore it is important to contact an experienced Kingston, New York medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible to evaluate your case and guide you through the complex medical malpractice process.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.
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