$2 Million Settlement for Failure to Timely Diagnose Breast Cancer

A 45-year-old Basking Ridge woman will receive $2 million to settle her Somerset County suit alleging a doctor failed to timely diagnose and begin treating her breast cancer. She first saw her doctor in July 2002, complaining of a lump in her right breast. Following a routine examination, the doctor told her he found nothing wrong, and he continued to report nothing unusual when she saw him twice more in July and September of that year. It was not until her fourth visit, in September 2003, that her doctor performed a biopsy, the results of which showed the woman was suffering from incurable stage IV breast cancer. Ms. Forte asserted that had the doctor performed a biopsy sooner, the cancer could have been detected early enough that it could have been treatable.