In the midst of recent pap smear false negative reports, the medical community is growing increasingly concerned about the number of women that could potentially have undiagnosed cervical cancer. Pap smear false negative results give a false sense of security to women, who may not know they have undiagnosed cervical cancer.

Pap smear false negative results can be attributed to several factors, with the most primary concern being that the medical labs analyzing the tests are overworked and understaffed. Numerous women undergo the pap smear exam on a daily basis for routine health purposes, making the number of tests that need to be analyzed in the millions.

According to the CDC, approximately 17.4 million healthcare offices ordered and conducted pap smear exams, along with 3.5 million tests at outpatient hospital department visits in 2014 alone. This means that lab technicians have to contend with a high demand on a daily basis, which can result in pap smear false negative readings.

These pap smear false negative readings can cause women with early-stage cervical cancer to be diagnosed with Stage 3 or 4 cervical cancer just one to three years later. While cervical cancer is one of the most treatable and preventable forms of cancer, this disease is also very aggressive and it can become fatal if allowed to progress.

“Although the pap test has been more successful than any other screening test in preventing cancer, it’s not perfect. One of the limitations of the pap test is that the results need to be examined by the human eye, so an accurate analysis of the hundreds of thousands of cells in each sample is not always possible,” the American Cancer Society stated.

Overview of Pap Smear Exam Importance

Before the pap smear exam was approved over 60 years ago, cervical cancer was one of the most common causes of death for women in the United States. Ever since the test was introduced, the number of these deaths has significantly decreased and almost completely eliminates the risk of cervical cancer.

This is because pap smear exams are very effective in identifying precancerous gynecologic clusters, with the test being able to identify the majority of most varieties of cervical cancer. Pap smear exams consist of collecting cells from the cervix, and are then examined in a designated medical lab by technicians.

Routine pap smear exams are considered one of the most effective ways in preventing cervical cancer, in which treatment can be implemented for any signs of precancerous developments. This essentially means that women who undergo regular pap smear exams are supposedly clear of an immediate cervical cancer risk at that time.

However, with the reports of pap smear false negative results, this may not always be the case. A class action investigation has been launched against the medical labs allegedly responsible for producing these Pap Smear false negative results.

This investigation has already spurred legal action, with one man from Florida who filed a wrongful death claim on behalf of his deceased wife. According to the claim the woman died from cervical cancer in 2011, after receiving a pap smear false negative result. In 2014, the jury awarded the husband $15.8 million in damages to the woman’s death.