Richmond Circuit Court
In this medical malpractice jury trial, the plaintiff, who sought care from the defendant surgeon in May 2007, alleged that as a result of his failure to appropriately diagnose and excise a palpable mass in her left breast, she had to undergo multiple surgeries resulting in an unsightly and embarrassing surgical scar.
The defendant upon palpating a left breast mass ordered radiologic studies, which revealed a single visible mass, thought likely to be a benign fibroadenoma. Plaintiff refused a confirmation needle biopsy and surgery was performed to excise the mass which was palpated and marked prior to surgery by the defendant. Pathologic diagnosis confirmed a benign lipoma, and no radiological follow up was ordered.
Plaintiff had multiple follow up visits with the defendant for issues related to difficult healing of her incision. No patient complaints were documented with regard to a mass that was still palpable.
In November of 2007, the defendant documented that the plaintiff had returned with concerns about palpating a new mass in her left breast. Radiology testing was ordered, and revealed a 4 cm. lesion in her left breast. According to the radiology report, the mass appeared "unchanged" from the previous study.
Plaintiff discontinued her relationship with the defendant, and underwent a second procedure to excise the mass. The final pathology on that mass was returned as a benign fibroadenoma.
At trial, Plaintiff argued that the Defendant missed the mass and failed to correlate pre-operative radiology studies with the operative findings, and failed to order post-operative radiology studies.