Misdiagnosed Cancer: When a Delay in Diagnosis Becomes Malpractice

You go to the doctor with a nagging pain or a persistent cough. Maybe you’ve been tired, losing weight without trying, or just feel like something’s not right. Your doctor runs some tests, says it’s probably nothing, and sends you home. But weeks or months later, you find out you have cancer. And it’s progressed.

What happened in that gap between symptoms and diagnosis can change the entire course of your life. A delay in diagnosing cancer isn’t just unfortunate; it can be medical malpractice.

If this sounds like what happened to you or someone you love, you’re not alone. And more importantly, you may have legal options.

What is delayed diagnosis?

A delayed diagnosis happens when a doctor doesn’t recognize or properly diagnose your condition in a timely manner, even though the signs were there.

In cancer cases, time is everything. A few months can be the difference between a small, treatable tumor and something that’s spread throughout your body. Between chemotherapy and palliative care. Between life and death.

Delayed diagnosis isn’t always the same as a missed diagnosis. Sometimes the doctor eventually gets it right, but the delay itself causes harm. That harm is what opens the door to a medical malpractice claim.

When does a delay in diagnosis become malpractice?

Not every delay is malpractice. Medicine is complex, and even the best doctors don’t catch everything right away. But there’s a line; when a doctor fails to follow standard diagnostic steps or ignores warning signs a reasonable provider would’ve caught.

Here’s what generally needs to be true for a medical malpractice lawyer to build a strong case:

• There was a doctor-patient relationship.
• The doctor failed to meet the standard of care. This means they didn’t do what a reasonably competent provider would have done in the same situation.
• That failure caused harm.
• You suffered damages. This might mean a more advanced cancer stage, longer treatment, worse prognosis, or even loss of income.

Let’s say you told your doctor about a suspicious lump, but they didn’t order imaging. Or maybe your test results came back abnormal, and no one followed up. That’s not just a lack of basic oversight. That might be negligence.

Common cancers involved in delayed diagnosis cases

Some cancers are harder to catch than others, but many have well-established screening guidelines and recognizable early symptoms. When doctors ignore these, the consequences can be devastating.

Cancers frequently involved in malpractice claims include:

• Breast cancer – Missed lumps, failure to order a mammogram, or misread imaging
• Colorectal cancer – Ignored blood in stool or skipped colonoscopy screenings
• Lung cancer – Dismissed chronic cough, missed signs on a chest X-ray
• Prostate cancer – Failure to follow up on elevated PSA levels
• Skin cancer (melanoma) – Misidentified or ignored suspicious moles
• Cervical or ovarian cancer – Dismissed pelvic pain, irregular bleeding, or missed Pap smear results

If your doctor brushed off your concerns or skipped standard diagnostic tools, and that delay made your cancer harder to treat (or impossible to cure), you might have a claim.

What causes delays in cancer diagnosis?

Delays happen for a lot of reasons, and not all of them are innocent. Here are some of the most common causes we see in cancer malpractice cases:

• Dismissed symptoms – Brushing off fatigue, pain, or weight loss as stress or aging
• Failure to refer – Not sending you to a specialist when red flags appear
• Misread test results – Imaging or lab tests interpreted incorrectly
• Lost or ignored test results – Results that never made it into your chart or never led to follow-up
• Inadequate history taking – Not asking the right questions about family history or lifestyle
• Administrative errors – Missed appointments, referrals not made, records not updated

Some delays are systemic (overworked staff, understaffed clinics, or poor communication between providers). However, if that delay cost you months of time you could’ve spent fighting your cancer, it still matters.

How do you prove a delayed cancer diagnosis harmed you?

This is where things get technical and where a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer makes a real difference. To build your case, your legal team will gather:

• Medical records – To track when symptoms were reported, what tests were ordered, and how your care progressed.
• Expert testimony – Doctors who can explain what should have been done, and how the delay changed your outcome.
• Timeline of harm – Showing how the delay worsened your condition, prognosis, or treatment plan.
• Proof of damages – Bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other impacts.

You don’t need to prove the delay caused the cancer, only that it made the situation worse than it could have been. For example, if your cancer was likely stage I when you went in for a checkup, but was only caught at stage III because your doctor ignored signs, that gap could support a malpractice claim.

What compensation can you recover?

Cancer changes everything. You may be facing more aggressive treatment, longer recovery, or a reduced chance of survival, all because someone dropped the ball.

You may be entitled to compensation for:

• Medical expenses – Surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, hospital stays, second opinions
• Lost wages – Time off work or permanent disability
• Pain and suffering – Both physical and emotional
• Loss of enjoyment of life – If your diagnosis limits your mobility, independence, or future
• Wrongful death damages – If you lost a loved one due to diagnostic delays

This money won’t change the diagnosis, but it can give you the resources to focus on healing.

How long do you have to file a malpractice claim in Mississippi?

Mississippi law gives you two years from the date you discovered (or reasonably should’ve discovered) the injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. This is known as the statute of limitations.

However, don’t wait. Cases involving cancer are complicated and take time to investigate and prepare.

The sooner you reach out, the more evidence your attorney can preserve, and the better your chance at a successful case.

Why you need a medical malpractice lawyer

Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies don’t like admitting they made a mistake. These cases often come down to “he said, she said,” and the medical providers have lawyers on their side. You deserve someone on yours.

At Merkel & Cocke, we’ve spent decades holding healthcare providers accountable for negligence. We understand the complexity of cancer care, and we know how to fight for families the system has failed.

We work with trusted medical experts, reconstruct the timeline of care, and build strong, evidence-based cases designed to get results.

Holding medical professionals accountable

A delayed cancer diagnosis is more than a mistake. It’s a serious misstep that can affect your very life. If you trusted your doctor and they let you down, you don’t have to suffer in silence.

You’ve got options and rights. And with the right medical malpractice lawyer by your side, you’ve got a path forward. Contact Merkel & Cocke today for a free consultation.