Walkup attorneys procured a $250,000 mediated settlement for a 61-year-old wife, mother, and schoolteacher after doctors and nurse practitioners at Kaiser Santa Rosa failed to follow up when a lump was detected in patient’s right breast.
The patient, who conscientiously performed self-breast exams every month, reported the detection of a small lump to her gynecologist, who referred her to the breast clinic. A nurse practitioner at the clinic conducted a fine needle aspiration, but lab results indicated that the sample was too small to evaluate. Another sample was never ordered. Though the lump remained, it was not until two years later that the patient’s gynecologist suggested aggressive examination. A biopsy revealed that the lump was lobular carcinoma. The patient underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, but the delay in diagnosis of what could have otherwise been early detection of breast cancer effectively reduced patient’s five-year life expectancy to well below 50%.
