Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Doe v. Roe, arbitration award, Feb. 8, 2019.

Doe, 47, had a family history of breast cancer. When she discovered a mass in her right breast, she consulted Roe family physician. The doctor aspirated the mass with an 18-gauge needle but did not send the aspirate to cytology. She referred Doe for a mammogram and ultrasound, which reported the presence of a hematoma. Doe’s mass continued to grow, and Roe allegedly attributed this to an enlarging hematoma during Doe’s multiple subsequent visits. Several months later, Doe consulted a surgeon. A biopsy revealed highly aggressive triple negative breast cancer. Doe’s cancer metastasized, and, despite treatment, she died of her disease within a year. A homemaker, she is survived by her husband and two minor children. Doe’s family claimed that Roe failed to submit the aspirate to cytology for analysis, which would have led to a timely diagnosis when Doe’s cancer was Stage II. Roe asserted that the aspiration was for therapeutic, not diagnostic, purposes and that Doe would have had a poor prognosis even with an earlier diagnosis. An arbitrator awarded more than $816,900. The case later settled for approximately $887,800.

Claimant counsel: Daniel M. Hodes, Irvine, Calif.
Claimant experts: John West, breast surgery, and John Link, breast oncology, both of Orange, Calif.; and Yuri Parisky, mammography, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

Defense experts: Mark Needham, family medicine, Santa Monica, Calif.; Michael Van Scoy-Mosher, breast oncology, Los Angeles; and Sanford Schwimer, mammography, Beverly Hills, Calif.