Failure to diagnose and delayed diagnosis of cancer: medicolegal issues

Failure to diagnose and delayed diagnosis of cancer can have a significant effect on patients' morbidity and mortality. Oral health care professionals should be alert for oral premalignant and malignant disease and head and neck involvement by malignant disease. These issues have patient care and medicolegal implications.

To provide guidance to practitioners, the authors present a series of cases of oral and head and neck cancer that resulted in legal action. They chose the medicolegal cases to highlight dental professionals' potential legal liability and provide guidance in patient care.

Clinicians need to obtain complete comprehensive histories, perform thorough head and neck and oral examinations and appreciate the importance of being vigilant for abnormalities that may lead to early detection of potentially malignant disease.