Failure to Diagnose and Treat Cancer

In this medical malpractice case, radiologists who analyzed client’s yearly mammograms noted the same suspicious mass on three occasions before recommending that a biopsy be performed. Additionally, the client’s regular family physician failed to perform clinical breast exams, which would have revealed a palpable mass. When a biopsy was finally performed, approximately four years after the mass was first noted, it revealed that the mass was, in fact, cancer, which by that time had metastasized. Merkel & Cocke asserted that the delay in diagnosing and treating the cancer caused the cancer to spread throughout the client’s body to the point that it was incurable. The client was awarded close to a million dollars.