$1.5 million recovery for a 57-year old female based upon an 11-month delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer in Kingston, New York.  The claim against a radiologist was based upon the failure to correctly interpret a mammogram during a routine screening mammogram that resulted in an 11-month delay in diagnosis of breast cancer.

Five months after the mammogram, the patient underwent a chest CT scan during a visit to the emergency department at a local hospital, which again revealed a mass in her left breast that was suspicious for breast cancer.  The report of the CT scan was electronically forwarded to the patient’s primary care physician with a recommendation for further imaging tests to determine whether the mass was cancerous.  Unfortunately, the patient’s primary care physician’s office misfiled the CT report and as a result, additional diagnostic testing was not performed.

Six months later, the patient felt a palpable lump in her left breast, which led to diagnostic tests, including a diagnostic mammogram, breast MRI and biopsy, and she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer.  Tragically, as a result of the delay in diagnosis, the breast cancer metastasized to the patient’s liver and is considered incurable.  The patient underwent a radical mastectomy and receives treatment with cytotoxic medications to suppress the growth of the cancer cells.