$2,000,000 Settlement for Failure to Diagnose Lung Cancer

Carol Forte obtained a $2,000,000 settlement in this failure to diagnose lung cancer case for a woman who was being treated for scleroderma. The treating physician assumed that a lesion found on a CT scan represented a nodule commonly seen with scleroderma patients. Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease. Despite recommendations from radiologists interpreting the CT scan to followup, no biopsy was performed. There was a year and a half delay until the cancer was discovered. The wife and mother of one died a year later of lung cancer. The defense contended that the patient had a substantial chance of dying from the lung cancer regardless of when the diagnosis was made and had a shortened life expectancy due to the underlying scleroderma.