case-results: Misdiagnosis

A 43-year-old patient presented to his primary care physician with complaints about a new lump in his breast. His primary care physician negligently delayed a cancer workup for over a year, and failed to advise the patient of alternative recommended treatment options. When the breast tumor was finally removed, it was misread as benign by the pathologist. Due to the delay and misdiagnosis, the cancer metastasized, and the patient is now terminal. The recovery from the verdict will allow the patient to afford expensive experimental treatments and clinical trials.

A 42 year old mother of two died after the doctors in the ER chose not to perform a simple blood test that would have diagnosed the blood clot in her leg. Instead they sent her home with pain medication and the clot traveled to her heart causing her death.

The patient was told she had breast cancer and as a result she decided to have a surgery to remove both breasts in order to avoid the cancer returning. After undergoing the surgery, she received a call saying the hospital had made a mistake. She never had breast cancer.