In April 2023, a Massachusetts medical malpractice jury returned its verdict against an emergency room physician for the death of a 47-year-old man from Stage IV lung cancer that was left untreated for 14 months. The jury awarded $600,000 for pain and suffering, $5 million for the loss of relationship with the man’s daughter, and $275,000 in punitive damages for gross negligence. With interest tacked on, judgment was entered in the amount of $9,862,248.60.
The man was reportedly drunk when he fell off of the roof of his garage on April 25, 2014 while he was making repairs to the roof. As he was falling the 12 feet to the ground, he accidentally shot himself in his left elbow with the nail gun he was using. As a result, he was brought to the hospital emergency room where he was seen by the defendant physician.
The defendant physician ordered tests including lab work and a CT scan, which showed an incidental finding of a 9.7 mm nodule on the man’s right lung. The radiologist reportedly contacted the emergency room physician to discuss the CT scan findings but, according to the plaintiff, the man was never informed of the lung nodule. Instead, he was discharged from the hospital with instructions to follow up with his primary care physician in two to three days, and with an orthopedic specialist.
The plaintiff further alleged that the defendant physician failed to advise the man’s primary care physician about the lung nodule incidental finding and failed to provide the man’s physician with a copy of the radiology report.
The defense argued that the defendant had advised the man about the incidental finding of the lung nodule and impressed upon him before his discharge from the hospital the importance of following up with his primary care physician. The defendant reportedly testified that she did not provide the man’s primary care physician with a copy of the radiology report because the physician was not within the hospital’s computer network, and the man had advised her that he was going to change his primary care physician.
The man had a follow up appointment with his primary care physician one week after his ER visit and brought with him his discharge papers, but the papers he was given by the hospital did not mention the incidental finding of the right lung nodule.
The man denied receiving the May 16, 2024 letter reportedly sent to him by the hospital’s incidental lung nodule program that advised him about the lung nodule found on the April 25 CT scan.
The man’s lung cancer was not diagnosed until a year later, by which time it was Stage 4, when he had another CT scan because he was experiencing a cough and rib pain. He died one month later.
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of cancer malpractice in Massachusetts or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Massachusetts medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your cancer malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a cancer medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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