Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer - $31,020,000 Verdict
For our client, a woman with Stage IV (incurable) breast cancer. We demonstrated that the treating Doctor did not respond appropriately to the patient's complaint of a lump on her breast. The Doctor advised that since the patient did not have a family history of breast cancer and was young, that the lump was just a cyst and was nothing to worry about. About ten months later, when the lump grew, the patient went to another Doctor who diagnosed breast cancer. Our expert in the field of oncology testified during trial that had the cancer been diagnosed ten months earlier, the patient would have been in either Stage I or II and would have had a good chance of survival.
Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer - $7,650,000 Verdict
In favor of our client, a Director of Nursing, who had a mammogram/sonogram of her left breast. The sonogram revealed three small cysts. Our proof was that the Doctor did not follow up on that finding over the next two years and that he was obligated to make sure the patient had additional mammograms and sonograms. When the patient felt a lump in that same breast, for the first time, (about two years after her last visit with the Doctor), she went for another mammogram and cancer was discovered shortly thereafter. The Doctor's negligence caused the cancer to spread to the bones and then to the lungs, making the disease terminal and depriving the patient of any chance of cure or recovery.
Failure to Diagnose Lung Cancer - $1,500,000 Settlement
Obtained for our client, whose treating pulmonologist we claimed failed to properly diagnose her lung cancer. The patient had complained of the recent onset of asthma during pregnancy. Over the course of approximately one year, the doctor failed to diagnose the fact that she had a cancerous tumor in her lungs. The doctor claimed that the patient simply had asthma and that there were no signs of lung cancer.
Failure to Diagnose Cancer - $1,000,000 Settlement
Obtained for our client, an HMO patient, who sought out treatment for pain in her leg. The radiologist erroneously attributed the abnormal findings on her films to an "old trauma" (there wasn't any) when in fact it was cancer.
Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer - $1,750,000
Reached during trial for our client, a 44-year-old principal, who suffered from Stage II breast cancer. We contended that there was an 18-month delay in diagnosing our client's condition due to the doctor's error in reading a mammogram and in not having a mammogram promptly performed upon feeling a lump in her breast.
*These results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
