Ocean County (NJ) Superior Court
In February 1997, a 49-year-old woman presented to her gynecologist with a white lesion on her vulva. The doctor diagnosed the lesion as eczema but also recommended a biopsy. However, the biopsy was not performed until January 1999.
The patient was subsequently diagnosed with vulvar cancer and required a radical hemivulvectomy. Another surgeon removed 17 lymph nodes to determine whether the cancer had spread.
The patient sued, claiming that the cancer cells might have been removed if a biopsy had been performed earlier.
- The case settled for $525,000.