Delay in Diagnosing Cancer Leads to Client’s Death

Seven Figure Recovery for Client After Medical Malpractice

Our client presented to the emergency room with left shoulder pain. A few days later, radiographic tests revealed a pathologic lesion through our client’s left collarbone. Our client underwent an MRI that revealed a potentially cancerous mass, and the radiologist reviewing the film recommended repeat studies. Our client was referred to a specialist for a definitive opinion.

This specialist, the doctor in question, viewed our client’s tests as negative while past doctors had described a lesion; the rest of this doctor’s report was so inconsistent with our client’s history that our lawyers questioned whether the doctor had reviewed films belonging to the wrong patient. The doctor in question did not biopsy our client’s lesion or order any repeat studies as recommended by the past radiologist, and he declared our client’s lesion benign. 16 months later, our client was diagnosed with multiple myeloma–cancer of the plasma cells – and tumors within his vertebrae. Our client’s cancer eventually gave him a fatal prognosis.

Two other law firms withdrew from this case believing the Defendant’s argument that the patient would have died regardless of when his cancer was diagnosed because multiple myeloma is incurable. Rosen Louik & Perry retained a prominent expert who described the possibility of a cure. Our lawyers then argued that the specialist who failed to properly monitor our client’s initial lesion extinguished any chance of curing his disease. Rosen Louik & Perry recovered seven figures for this client.