Testicular cancer malpractice trends

Abstract

Objective: Medical and surgical advancements have been made in testicular cancer management over the past 50 years. The evolution of practice standards is expected to provide patients benefits in quality of life and oncologic outcomes, but changes in care standards can introduce potential opportunities for increased malpractice claims against providers. We seek to evaluate if modifications in testicular cancer management have translated to a rise in malpractice lawsuits.

Methods: A retrospective review of testicular cancer malpractice cases within the Google Scholar Case Law database was performed from January 1, 1975, to January 1, 2024.

Results: Of 102 cases initially screened, 24 were identified after duplicates were excluded and cases irrelevant to malpractice litigation in testicular cancer patients. Most cases were related to delays in diagnosis or treatment (n = 21, 87.5%). Two cases (8.3%) were in response to complications from radiation treatment, and 1 case (4.2%) was a suit in response to the loss of semen specimen for fertility preservation after testicular cancer diagnosis. No malpractice claims were filed in response to surveillance practices or surgical techniques utilized for retroperitoneal lymph node dissection.

Conclusions: Despite the adoption of changes in testicular cancer management and ongoing controversies in care, an increase in malpractice lawsuits in response to changing paradigms in testicular cancer was not seen.

Keywords: Malpractice; Surveillance; Testicular cancer.