This year approximately 14% of the 193,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer will already have advanced prostate cancer by the time the cancer is detected. With routine testing before the onset of symptoms, including digital examinations and PSA blood tests, many of these individuals might have been diagnosed when their cancer was in the early stages. A lapse of time until the cancer is advanced not only limits the man’s treatment options but also dramatically lowers his odds of surviving the cancer. Consider the following published lawsuit to illustrate.

While doing a physical examination on a fifty-six year old male patient, a doctor noted a small nodule on the left part of the prostate. The physician ordered a PSA test which came back as 3.1 - typically considered to be in the normal range. The doctor took no further action at the time. Nearly 3 years went by. The physician once more conducted a physical examination and documents that there were no abnormalities felt on the prostate. This time, the doctor fails to order a PSA test. The patient was examined by a second doctor around 6 weeks later as part of an insurance mandated medical examination. This doctor ordered a PSA test which registered at 5.3. This is considered high. The patient then contacted his regular doctor’s practice and was told to come back so they can do their own PSA test. This test returned a 3.5 - within normal range. The physician told the patient not to worry and that no further action needed to be taken.

Again, almost three years passed before the doctor next screened the patient. The doctor again records the nodule. The doctor then ordered a PSA test that registered at 4.7 - elevated. The doctor fails to tell the patient and does nothing further regarding these two abnormal test results. Close to 2 years later the physical examination reveals that the prostate not only had a nodule, but was firm on the side of the nodule and was enlarged. The PSA test at this point shows the level at 14.1. On this occasion, the physician finally refers the patient to a Urologist who diagnoses the patient with metastatic prostate cancer that had gotten to the bones around pubic area and the upper part of his right leg.

An action for medical malpractice followed during which the physician stated that the presence of the nodule was an "abnormal" result. The law firm that handled this matter reported that the case was resolved for $850,000. This amount incorporated two hundred fifty thousand dollars for non-economic damages and two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the wife’s future wrongful death claim. This is the most that can be recovered for those claims under the laws of the state in which the case arose.