Family of Woman Who Died After Failure to Diagnose Cancer is Awarded $1.5 Million

A $1.5 million settlement has been reached in the case of a Virginia woman who died after a radiologist failed to diagnose cancer at an early stage.

The wrongful death case was reported in Virginia Lawyers Weekly. The 58-year-old woman showed up at an emergency room in April, 2008, complaining of abdominal and chest pains. An emergency room doctor ordered a CT scan of her pelvis. The radiologist found the scan indicated acute appendicitis.

She was treated and released the next day. It wasn’t until 2011 when she turned up at the hospital again, suffering from abdominal and chest pain, that cancer was diagnosed.

I was sad to read the cancer was at an advanced stage by now and the woman died. Had her condition been diagnosed at an earlier stage, her chances of survival would have been about 90 percent.

The attorneys for the plaintiffs were Derrick L Walker and Jonathan Petty.

As Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers we report on too many cases of a failure to diagnose at an early stage. It’s one of the most common mistakes made by doctors and radiologists and the consequences of this mistake can often be deadly.

Last year I reported how failure to diagnose signs of a heart attack in an obese man in Virginia led to the death of the man and an $825,000 settlement.

See our questions and answers about medical malpractice in Virginia.

The Norfolk, VA based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley with client meeting locations in Virginia Beach and Hampton, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as wrongful death, railroad injury cases and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have more than 40 years of combined experience in specializing in auto injury as well as other accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA. Our motto is: “Your Injury. Our fight.” If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us at (757) 455 -0077 or contact us through this website.