Malignant Melanoma Cases and Medical Negligence
Anapol Schwartz law firm has handled medical negligence melanoma lawsuits. The plaintiff's family in each of these cases received in excess of $1.9 million.
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Gross negligent primary care doctor
A 39-year-old wife and mother had an extremely fair complexion and a history of sunburns. She consulted her primary care doctor about a suspicious mole on her thigh. The primary care doctor removed the mole but failed to send it to pathology. Eight months later the mole returns and the client goes back to her doctor who now recognizes that the mole is suspicious because it has some of the signs of asymmetry, border irregularity, darkened in color, and so forth.
The primary care doctor now referred the woman to a dermatologist. Unfortunately, it was too late. Despite two years of extensive treatment the patient died from malignant melanoma.
"The difficult issues with most cancer cases is causation," says Stephen J. Pokiniewski, Jr., Anapol Schwartz attorney, who has handled malignant melanoma lawsuits. "Even if there was a delay in diagnosis, it must be for a sufficient time such as to cause the patient the need for more treatment or make her prognosis worse or in these cases, death."
Evidence filed away
In this medical malpractice melanoma lawsuit, 55-year-old wife and mother was referred to a surgeon who removed and biopsied a lesion on her back/shoulder. Although the surgeon didn't think it was suspicious, he did send it to pathology. The pathology report came back as malignant melanoma but the report was placed in the woman's file without the surgeon ever reviewing it.
About 2 1/2 years later, the woman develops a mass under her armpit which her primary care doctor suspects may be breast cancer and sends her to a breast surgeon, who obtains a history of the mole removal from her back and then obtains the pathology report.
Sadly, the mass under her arm was metastatic malignant melanoma and despite extensive ontological care the patient died. The case settled after the discovery phase.
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In both of these cases there was gross negligence on the part of the primary care doctor who failed to recognize the initial symptoms of malignant melanoma and on the part of the surgeon for failing to review his records which pointed to the seriousness of the lesion.
In both cases, the women went to their doctors for medical attention and the medical system failed them.
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The above cases are actual lawsuits handled by Anapol Schwartz P.C. Names have been omitted because they are subject to a confidentiality agreement.
