Medical Malpractice, Colonoscopy and Colonoscopy Preparation

Screening for bowel cancer is a necessary process that has effectively cut down on the number of deaths from this disease. Last year, nearly 50,000 Americans died as a result of colorectal cancer; it is the second leading cause of cancer death in the US.

Screening for the disease allows doctors get an unobstructed view of the colon permitting early diagnoses of potential problems. To perform the test, the patient must cleanse their bowels. this is a process no one enjoys;. unfortunately, it’s the only way to get a clear view of the colon.

Recently, it has been broight to the attention of the medical community and the public that the bowel preparation process may cause kidney failure, as well as other conditions. Some people who have faithfully taken these oral preparations are experiencing serious complications. The culprit is oral sodium phosphate, an ingredient frequently found in OsomoPrep, Visicol and other preparations like Fleet Phospho-Soda.

Approximately 5 million tests are done yearly; 5 million people ingest this awful tasting stuff, each year, spending the next few, very uncomfortable, hours in their bathrooms. Surprisingly, as far back as 2005, there were reports that Fleet Phospho-Soda causes a serious kidney condition and acute phosphate nephropathy. The kidneys get an overload of calcium-phosphate crystals which lodge in the renal tubules which may cause permanent damage.

Despite solid evidence of potential kidney disease and oral sodium phosphate, the Food and Drug Administration didn’t issue a warning until December 2008. I am certain that the FDA feels ‘better late than never’, but patients who are being diagnosed with kidney disease are not impressed or sympathetic. Such high risk patients for significant ingestion are those with colitis, cirrhosis, renal insufficiency, congestive heart failure and blocked digestive tracts (obstruction).

The FDA, obviously, is not infallible. Almost every state in the union (except Michigan which, inexplicably, grants full immunity to drug manufacturers whose dangerous and defective poisons have been FDA approved) permits lawsuits against FDA approved, dangerous and defective drugs. Doctors need to use their own professional judgment about the safety and effectiveness of any medication. Medical malpractice comes in multiple forms; one of those occurs when a doctor does no research, reads no literature, and is unaware or not observant of the consequences of certain medications or patient pre-existing conditions that would make them more susceptible to a particular treatment or drug regimen.

If you are scheduling a colonoscopy, Lawsuit Financial encourages you to do your own due diligence; research all product you are prescibed. Ask questions; be your own advocate. Ask your doctor if there are safer alternatives. After all, it’s your body.