Personal Injury Law

Cancer Patient Wins Malpractice Suit

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

A jury found a podiatrist liable for medical malpractice after he removed a growth from a woman?s big toe. The man did not check the growth for cancer, yet the podiatrist did no such tests. The mother of two was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma a year after having the growth removed. The jury concluded that the woman?s chances of beating the cancer were greatly reduced because the podiatrist failed to have tissue from the excised growth tested for cancer. According to the patient, the podiatrist placed the lesion in the container and told them he would take it for testing. The woman is now in stage three of the cancer and she has just a 17 percent chance of living another 12 years. The trial lasted 5 days and the jury returned a verdict of more than $8.1 million in damages. To read the full story, click here.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).