OUTCOME
A defense verdict was returned.
COMMENT
One of the most common reasons a patient decides to file a medical malpractice lawsuit is because a later treating professional recommends it. In this case, the staging surgeon reviewed the prior slides and concluded that the cancer should have been discovered at the time of the original surgery. It does not appear that she was a pathologist.
What is puzzling is why this provider would recommend that the patient see a lawyer, while withholding an expert pathology opinion stating that the original pathologist’s findings were reasonable. She did neither the patient nor her lawyer a favor. I am not surprised by the defense verdict in this case. —JP