Misdiagnosed cancer sends woman into depression after treatment

Cancer is a devastating disease that affects many people in Pennsylvania and throughout the world. Even with a good prognosis from doctors, treatments may be hard on the body and cause serious stress and anxiety to the person and their family members. Although chemotherapy has been proven to be effective at treating some types of cancer, it is also known for causing side effects that create discomfort and pain in the patient. A misdiagnosed cancer may cause the patient to undergo treatments that are unnecessary, and may have far-reaching effects throughout the life of the person.

A Texas woman was awarded a large sum of money for the physical pain and mental anguish she suffered when a doctor misread her lab results and diagnosed her with Stage IV breast cancer. Although the woman claims the money does not make the pain go away, she hopes to make a difference by sharing her story with the public.

She underwent seven rounds of chemotherapy and sank into a depression during treatment, certain that she was going to die. The mistake came to light when she sought help for her anxiety and doctors performed scans that confirmed that the cancer diagnosis was a mistake.

The doctor who misdiagnosed the woman has since died, but a jury in the woman’s county felt she deserved the money for what she had suffered. A simple mistake on the part of the doctor put the woman in a life-changing position, and required her to go through unnecessary treatments that damaged her body and caused her pain.

Source: KHOU, “Cancer-free woman undergoes chemotherapy after false diagnosis,” Drew Karedes, July 16, 2013