In July 2025, a Virginia medical malpractice case involving the alleged failure of a neuroradiologist to diagnose the plaintiff’s nasopharyngeal cancer from an MRI in 2022, which delay allegedly led to the cancer proceeding from Stage Two (curable) to Stage Four (incurable) when the cancer was finally diagnosed in 2023, was reportedly settled for $2.1 million. The plaintiff had claimed compensatory damages in the amount of $842,000 for medical bills, the life care plan in the amount of $1.3 million, and for loss of earnings and household services in the amount of $3.5 million.
The 33-year-old father was experiencing mild one-sided facial numbness for which he had an MRI to rule out a stroke. The plaintiff alleged that there was an incidental finding on the MRI that showed a mass in the nasopharynx that was putting pressure on the facial nerve, which the neuroradiologist failed to report. His numbness worsened over the next year that led to a CT scan that revealed that the mass had grown and had spread to his brain and lymph nodes. Despite undergoing chemotherapy and proton beam radiation, he suffered a recurrence of cancer with metastasis to his lungs. Subsequent immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatments accomplished remission of the spread of the cancer, but his long-term survival is unlikely.
The defense reportedly included a neuroradiologist and a medical oncologist as experts who were prepared to testify that the defendant neuroradiologist did not breach the standard of care because the finding on the MRI was subtle, the defendant was focused on ruling out a stroke due to an indication of facial numbness, and the tumor had already spread to surrounding structures at the time of the MRI and that the biology of the plaintiff’s cancer was such that it was going to be incurable even if diagnosed and treated a year earlier.
The plaintiff’s experts testified that as a result of the one year delay in detecting the mass, the cancer progressed from stage two, with the possibility of surgical resection and the certainty of cure, to stage four incurable cancer.
Source: Cleveland Clinic
Nasopharyngeal Cancer
Nasopharyngeal cancer is a rare type of head and neck cancer that affects the tissue that connects the back of the nose to the back of the mouth (the nasopharynx). The nasopharynx is located just above the roof of the mouth, at the base of the skull. When you breathe in through your nose, air flows through your nose, nasopharynx and into your throat before it reaches your lungs.
Nasopharyngeal cancer affects 1 out of 100,000 people each year in the United States and typically affects people ages 15 to 24 and ages 65 to 79.
Data kept by the American Cancer Society show 63% of people with nasopharyngeal cancer in the U.S. were alive five years after diagnosis. Like many cancer types, nasopharyngeal cancer survival rates improve if cancer is diagnosed before it can spread:
- Local: An estimated 82% of people with local nasopharyngeal cancer were alive five years after diagnosis. Local nasopharyngeal cancer is cancer that has not spread to other areas of the body.
- Regional disease: An estimated 72% of people with regional nasopharyngeal cancer were alive five years after diagnosis. This is cancer in nearby lymph nodes, tissues and organs.
- Metastatic disease: An estimated 49% of people with cancer that’s spread (metastasized) to more distant organs were alive five years after diagnosis.
If you or a loved one were injured as a result of the misdiagnosis of cancer in Virginia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly consult with a Virginia medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your cancer misdiagnosis claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a cancer medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to be connected with medical malpractice lawyers in Virginia or in your U.S. state who may assist you.
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