<court>Essex County (NJ) Superior Court</court>
During an ultrasound examination, a perinatologist discovered a large mass on the left ovary of a 37-year-old gravida.
This physician consulted with the woman’s Ob/Gyn, but neither suggested the patient have the mass removed or informed her that it might be cancerous. The postpartum Ob/Gyn, meanwhile, failed to monitor the growth following the birth of the woman’s child.
When the woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer the next year, advanced stage disease was present. She died the following year.
- The perinatologist and postpartum Ob/Gyn settled for an undisclosed sum. The jury awarded the plaintiff $1.2 million, and the original Ob/Gyn was found 45% at fault.
The cases in this column are selected by the editors of OBG Management from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts, with permission of the editor, Lewis Laska, of Nashville, Tenn (www.verdictslaska.com). While there are instances when the available information is incomplete, these cases represent the types of clinical situations that typically result in litigation.