Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Verdicts & Settlements: Medicine

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Failure to follow up on CT myelogram results

July 30, 2024

Patricia Stoll, 82, suffered from low back pain. She underwent a CT lumbar spine myelogram, and the results were allegedly reported back to physician assistant (PA) Thomas Klick. The radiology report referenced a soft-tissue nodule that was not present on an earlier examination and recommended an abdominal and pelvic CT scan. Another physician then performed a lumbar laminectomy.

Several months later, Stoll experienced severe abdominal pain. A CT scan revealed a right retroperitoneal mass and scattered low density lesions in her liver. A subsequent biopsy revealed right retroperitoneal sarcoma. Stoll underwent surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

Stoll and her husband sued the PA and an orthopedic surgery practice, alleging failure to review, note, and properly follow up on the findings of the CT lumbar myelogram. The plaintiffs also asserted that Stoll had not been advised of the findings, and that the PA failed to timely advise his supervising physician of the imaging results. The delayed diagnosis led to a more complicated surgery and allowed the cancer to spread to surrounding organs and tissues, the plaintiffs claimed.

The jury awarded over $1.2 million.

Citation: Stoll v. Vibert, No. 21-188970 NH (Mich. Cir. Ct. Oakland Cnty. May 22, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Steven Hurbis, Ariel Kellersohn, Brian McKeen, and Jody Aaron, all of Detroit.