With regards to colon cancer there are particular risk factors which ought to lead a physician to check the patient for the presence of the cancer. The primary procedure employed by doctors to check for colon cancer if a patient has a family history or is complaining of a symptom, like blood in the stool, is the colonoscopy. Using this procedure physicians can see the interior of the colon and search for abnormal (and possibly cancerous) growths. Ordinarily, physicians recommend that even those who are not at higher risk still undergo screening starting at age 50.

Yet for the results of a colonoscopy to be reliable it needs to be complete. It must cover the entire length of the colon. If obstructions or inadequate preparation produce incomplete visualization of parts of the colon, the patient ought to be told and the doctor should advise the patient that the colonoscopy ought to be repeated or an alternative, for example a virtual colonoscopy, be considered. If the doctor fails to let the patient know that the colonoscopy was no finished or that there was poor visibility and advise suitable follow up too much time may pass before the patient starts displaying symptoms or has another screening procedure.

One case that was reported involved a female patient who died of colon cancer in her mid forties due to the fact that her cancer was not found until it was at an advanced stage even though her doctors for years had information that she was at high risk. Consider her medical history. She had a family history of colon cancer. During the length of six years, physicians conducted three colonospies on this patient. On numerous occasions she kept letting her physicians know that she was suffering from pain in the abdomen and that she observed blood in her stool. Besides these two symptoms, her doctors, on at least one occasion, additionally noted that she had a third symptom of colon cancer - she had anemia.

The documentation from two of the colonoscopies revealed that the visualization was weak of the ascending colon and cecum as the scope could not be passed beyond the transverse colon. Still, this same doctor kept telling the woman that there was no need for her to worry. The doctor continued telling the patient that her symptoms were caused by hemorroids, at no time informing her that it had not been possible to examine the entire colon.

Eventually the patient went through exploratory surgery in an attempt to figure out why she was having the symptoms. The cancer was discovered in the course of the surgery. A significant fraction of her intestines was taken out due to the cancer. Chemotherapy followed but the woman subsequently died from the cancer. Because of the doctor’s failure to order additional testing to determine the source of her symptoms given that there were 2 incomplete colonoscopies the woman’s surviving family filed a malpractice case. The law firm that represented the family in this case was able to document that they were able to obtain a recovery for the family in the amount of $875,000

Physicians employ diagnostic tests in order to discover or exclude specific diseases. For instance, the colonoscopy is a procedure used to search for or rule out colon cancer. But the result of the test is only as good as the precision with which the test was conducted. For the procedure a physician inserts a scope to visualize the inside of the colon so as to determine whether there are any polyps or tumors in the colon

If the complete colon is not visualized, as in the lawsuit previously mentioned, a physician cannot rely on it to rule out cancer. In the event that the patient does have cancer this may bring about a delay in diagnosis that gives the cancer time to grow and progress to an incurable stage. Under such circumstances the doctor who relied on such a partial result may be liable under a medical malpractice or even wrongful death claim.