Cases reprinted with permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements and Experts, Lewis Laska, Editor, (800) 298-6288.
Chest X-Ray Filed Before Clinician’s Review
In anticipation of a cardiac catheterization, a 76-year-old Illinois man underwent a chest x-ray in March 2003. The x-ray showed a 4-cm mass in the left lung, which the radiologist identified as bronchogenic carcinoma.
A staff member in the office of the defendant physician who had ordered the x-ray believed incorrectly that the physician had already seen the results and filed the report in the patient’s chart. The report was not seen again until after a diagnosis of lung cancer had been made in September 2003. By that time, the cancer had metastasized to the man’s liver, pelvis, hip, femur, spine, and shoulder. He died 18 days after the diagnosis was made.
The plaintiff claimed that if the cancer had been diagnosed earlier, the decedent could have been made comfortable during treatment, and he would have survived longer. The defendant admitted liability but argued that the reduction in the decedent’s life expectancy was minimal because his cancer was in an advanced stage in March 2003. The defendant claimed that the net increase in the patient’s pain and suffering was minimal because he would have undergone chemotherapy and radiation if a diagnosis of cancer had been made earlier.
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