Patient Prevails, Receives Settlement in Cancer Misdiagnosis Case

Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff

A Virginia Court

The Plaintiff filed suit against her health care providers for failing to timely diagnose her with cancer. The case began in October 2010 when the Plaintiff underwent a screening mammogram to follow up on an abnormality noted on a CT scan performed a month earlier. Because of the abnormality, the Plaintiff should have undergone a diagnostic mammogram, which is a more sensitive test than a screening mammogram and would have focused on the area of the breast where the abnormality was detected. As a result of undergoing the wrong test, the Plaintiff’s cancer went undetected for almost two years. During that time, the cancer grew and the Plaintiff’s prognosis worsened. After filing suit, all parties agreed that the wrong type of mammogram had been performed, which caused a delay in diagnosing her cancer. While the parties disputed the Plaintiff’s prognosis and who was responsible for the Plaintiff undergoing the wrong test, the Plaintiff reached a confidential settlement with two of the Defendants. The Plaintiff voluntarily released other Defendants from the suit after reaching the settlement.