Eight Minute Colonoscopy Misses Tumor That Will Now Kill

Posted by Ben GlassApril 20, 2008 6:10 AM

A colonoscopy is one of the best things you can do to prevent colon cancer. Colon cancer is a killer but it is slow growing and very, very preventable. But....the colonoscopy has to be properly done.

Kevin Rexford, a former patient of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada filed a medical malpractice suit, believing that the frenetic pace of procedures is killing him. According to Rexford, in January of 2005, Dr. Clifford Carrol missed a tumor growing in his colon during a colonoscopy.

Rexford, 43-years-old at the time, had a family history of colon cancer and showed warning signs of the disease, such as abdominal pain and blood in his stool, according to court documents. At the end of the colonoscopy, which took a total of eight minutes, including sedation, Rexford was diagnosed by Carrol as having hemorrhoids and had Citrucel, a fiber supplement, suggested to him, according to the documents.
Rexford’s symptoms continued and in December of 2005, Rexford was hospitalized due to long-term blood loss. According to court documents, doctors discovered the cancer growing in his colon, but by then it was incurable.

The case was recently settled and terms were not disclosed.
Rexford’s claim also alleges that he was billed too much for anesthesia. The suit says that he was billed for 31 minutes of anesthesia, despite the procedure only lasting eight minutes. According to the suit, anesthesia is typically billed in 15-minute blocks, so Rexford was charged for three blocks instead of one.

Generally a colonoscopy takes at least 15-30 minutes.

If the facts as alleged are true, this is a very tragic and preventable death.