$1.8 Million Medical Malpractice Recovery – Delay in Breast Cancer Diagnosis

The family of a Toms River woman recovered a $1.8 million settlement as a result of a delay in diagnosing her breast cancer. Contributing to the settlement were two radiologists who mistakenly assumed an abnormality seen on the woman’s mammography studies was from a prior biopsy, when, in fact, the woman never had a prior biopsy of the breast. Rather, the area of abnormality was actually ‘architectural distortion’ which can be a warning sign of a malignancy. Also contributing to the settlement was the woman’s primary care provider, who received the radiologist’s reports, but failed to notice and clarify the mistaken reference to a prior biopsy. Subsequently, when the woman was finally diagnosed with breast cancer, she had Stage 4 disease. Towards the end of her life, she underwent a surgical procedure because of a bowel obstruction, which was caused by the spread of her cancer, and the assistant surgeon placed a central line in her artery, as opposed to her vein, resulting in a stroke and hastening her demise. The surgeon contributed to the recovery as well. Blume Forte partner Michael Zerres represented the family