During trial, WRSMH attorney Jason Rubin settled a medical malpractice/ wrongful death case arising out of defendant's failure to diagnose pancreatic cancer. Decedent, a woman in her 70's, underwent an ultrasound, CT scan and MRI of the abdomen at a well-known cancer center which all indicated a small lesion in the tail of her pancreas. Her case was reviewed by a team of physicians at a hepatobiliary conference and it was the consensus of the group that decedent should be followed closely without repeat CT studies to look for changes in the lesion. Despite the group's recommendation, decedent's physician at the cancer center failed to order further CT studies for two years, resulting in a growth and metastasis of her pancreatic cancer and, ultimately, death.
Jason was able to obtain this recovery despite the fact that pancreatic cancer is almost always fatal. Evidence was presented at trial which demonstrated that, when first detected, the lesion was so small that it would have been operable and curative. However, because of the delay in diagnosis, the tumor became inoperable and ultimately resulted in decedent's death.