September was Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in New York as well as across the country and around the world. The purpose of this annual event is to provide parents and caregivers with information about the different types of cancers that children can contract as well as to raise funds for research and support.
September was Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in New York as well as across the country and around the world. The purpose of this annual event is to provide parents and caregivers with information about the different types of cancers that children can contract as well as to raise funds for research and support.
It is estimated that more than 40 U.S. children are diagnosed with one form or another of the disease each day, and that approximately 40,000 children who have received such a diagnosis are treated for it annually. Unfortunately, 12 percent of them do not survive. Research facilities are hard at work trying to find a solution, but many lack sufficient funding to do so.
Johns Hopkins researchers have estimated that one out of every five cancer cases are misclassified, as there are a variety of forms of the disease. This can be problematic, as there are different treatment regimens depending upon the form of cancer.
In addition to misclassification, the researchers found that a misdiagnosis of cancer occurs once in every 71 cases. This can be devastating in several ways. It makes a child who has been misdiagnosed go through aggressive and sometimes harmful treatment when in some cases the actual disease that the child has worsens. It also puts the child’s family through an emotional wringer.
Parents who have been affected in such a manner may want to speak with an attorney to see what recourse may potentially be available. If the child has been harmed by the misdiagnosis, the attorney may review the applicable hospital records and confer with medical experts to see if such error constituted a failure on the part of the heath care practitioner to exhibit the requisite standard of care.
