Sommers Schwartz attorney Rob Sickels filed a medical malpractice lawsuit alleging a failure to properly diagnose and treat colon cancer, allowing the cancer to significantly progress and spread throughout the plaintiff’s body and greatly diminishing his life expectancy.

According to the complaint, the defendant gastroenterologist performed a screening colonoscopy on the plaintiff at the defendant hospital in June 2020. The patient advised the doctor of his family’s history of lung and prostate cancer at that time. Following the procedure, the doctor reported that the colonoscopy showed no abnormalities, and he advised the plaintiff to follow up with another screening procedure in three years.

In February 2022, the plaintiff went to the emergency room complaining of nausea, vomiting, and pain in his lower abdomen. He was admitted and remained in the hospital for three days; based on tests performed during this visit, he was diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma. A subsequent biopsy revealed Stage IV colon cancer, which had spread to his liver and lymph nodes. The plaintiff then underwent surgery to remove the cancer and began chemotherapy.  

The plaintiff alleges that the gastroenterologist was professionally negligent in failing to correctly perform and interpret the colonoscopy, failing to identify signs of colon cancer during his 2020 screening colonoscopy, overlooking indicators in the patient’s medical history that increased the likelihood of cancer, and failing to use the proper techniques to discover, record, and treat his colon cancer at an early stage. Had the plaintiff’s condition been properly identified in February 2020, it would have been at an early stage and much more easily treated. 

The plaintiff has undergone numerous surgeries and chemotherapy treatments and needs medical care, treatment, and testing. His overall health has deteriorated and continues to worsen. Doctors anticipate he will die of colon cancer long before his life expectancy. 

The lawsuit seeks compensation for the plaintiff’s medical expenses, unnecessary pain and suffering, impairment, emotional distress, diminished life expectancy, and lost earning capacity. His wife seeks compensation for the loss of his companionship, comfort, society, and services.