Personal Injury Law

$2M Worcester, Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded Against St. Vincent Hospital Over Delayed Cancer Diagnosis

By Altman & Altman

A Worcester jury has awarded Laura M. Ginisi and Joseph A. Ginisi nearly $2 million for Massachusetts medical practice in their case against St. Vincent Hospital. Joseph, 63, is now legally blind and cannot walk without assistance.

In their Worcester, Massachusetts medical malpractice complaint, the couple claims that the hospital misdiagnosed several of Joseph?s strokes and delayed the treatment he required for cancer. They claim that he sustained physical and mental injuries after going to the hospital for medical care in January 2004. Since that year, Joseph, an ex-trucker, has lived at the Millbury Health Care Center.

Joseph told his wife that he was feeling unwell on January 23, 2004. He went to St. Vincent where he underwent a CT scan. Doctors thought that the scan showed old lesions. They diagnosed him with vertigo, told him to take medication and follow up with a doctor, and discharged him. However, results from an MRI that he later took showed that he recently suffered strokes.

Joseph?s condition deteriorated to the point that he couldn?t see or talk. A brain biopsy performed at St. Vincent showed that he was suffering from a cancer called intravascular lymphoma and he was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Unfortunately, according to the couple?s Boston medical malpractice lawyer, St. Vincent failed to immediately send the biopsy slides and blocks to the Boston hospital. He contends that Joseph would have suffered less injury if only his cancer had been diagnosed sooner.

The jury is ordering St. Vincent to pay Joseph $1,394,160 in Worcester medical malpractice damages and $500,000 to Laura for loss of consortium. Joseph is not expected to be able to live at home ever again.

Cancer Diagnosis
It is imperative that doctors correctly diagnose your cancer in a timely manner. Delayed diagnosis, wrong diagnosis, and delay in providing treatment can make a huge impact in your chances of recovery, as well as determine the type of care that you need to recover. For example, more invasive, costly, and painful medical care may be required, and in some cases, a death that could have been prevented with timely and proper care can result. Other serious and permanent side effects can also result from cancer misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

Millbury couple wins malpractice case against St. Vincent, Telegram.com, December 15, 2010

Couple Gets $2M For Hospital Misdiagnosis, WCVBTV, December 15, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Misdiagnosis of Cancer, Wrong Diagnosis

American Cancer Society

Full post as published by Boston Injury Lawyer Blog on December 21, 2010 (boomark / email).