Hereditary cancer litigation: a status report.

During the past few decades, cancer patients have sued their physicians for negligence in diagnosing or managing their disease, based on the charge that the clinician failed to consider the patient's genealogy when trying to arrive at a diagnosis. Other suits have charged that the clinician is liable for failing to investigate other members of the cancer patient's family, regardless of whether they were his or her patients. Although these cases have been successful only sporadically, they underscore the importance of obtaining a complete cancer history not only of the patient but also the immediate family. With the advent and more widespread use of gene analysis studies, more such cases are likely in the future.