Physician Exonerated in Lung Cancer Case

Won a defense verdict in a case involving a delay in the diagnosis of lung cancer in a 55-year-old non-smoker. A lung nodule was found, coincidentally, by the defendant ER Medicine Physician, on a CAT scan of the plaintiff's chest after he was involved in a bicycle crash following a cardiac event. The plaintiff was admitted to the hospital where he underwent a catheterization. He was sent home without being told of the finding and claimed he was not told until seven months later, after which he waited another four months to see a physician. The client admitted that he did not tell the plaintiff about the finding. After a seven-day trial, the jury found that the physician acted properly in not telling the patient about the finding. There were co-defendants who settled the case the week before the trial, in addition to a cardiologist who was also found to have acted properly in not telling the patient. Although they were not required to make this determination, the jury answered the interrogatories in which they found the patient 100% responsible for the delay, causing his cancer to go from a curable stage to terminal.