Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the San Jose area, such as Kaiser Permanente, Regional Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, or O’Connor Hospital.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)
INJURIES: The plaintiff was diagnosed with an intermediate-grade, infiltrating ductal carcinoma in her left breast.
Facts:
In August 2003, the plaintiff, 47, a long-haul truck driver, underwent a screening mammogram that showed an area of suspicion in her left breast. An ultrasound was done and read as “highly suspicious” and indicative of a solid nodule in the left breast.
On Sept. 21, the plaintiff underwent a biopsy. The pathologist reported the results as representative of a papilloma, also known as a benign tumor. On May 31, she underwent another screening mammogram, which her radiologist read as normal.
On May 20, 2004, the plaintiff underwent her annual mammogram, which again revealed an area of suspicion in her left breast. She followed up with an ultrasound and biopsy, which led to a breast cancer diagnosis.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
The plaintiff sued her surgeon and radiologist for medical malpractice, claiming that the diagnosis delay worsened her prognosis. Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that the surgeon missed the cancer at the Sept. 21 biopsy, when the diagnosis should have been made.
The plaintiff claimed that, had the diagnosis been made on the earlier date, she would have opted for a lumpectomy, rather than a mastectomy, and her overall prognosis would have been far better.
Plaintiff’s counsel also alleged that the radiologist misread the May 31 mammogram.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.