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Plaintiff alleges that the defendants failed to timely diagnose and treat her right breast carcinoma from March of 1997 through September of 1998.
Wrongful death of a 35 year old mother of three children (ages 13, 7 and 4 at the time of their mother's passing).
$1,250,000.00 settlement before trial.
The plaintiff-estate claimed that by reason of the defendants failures to properly investigate a suspicious right breast lump and/or mass detected and reported by the plaintiff, then a 31 year old mother of three boys, they deviated and departed from accepted standards of care. Specifically, it was alleged that by reason of the defendants failure to properly investigate plaintiff-decedent's complaints of an abnormal lump and/or mass in the outer aspect of her right breast in March of 1997 (this was during her last pregnancy), failure to perform proper breast examinations and failure to entertain a differential diagnosis which should have included carcinoma of the right breast, the plaintiff was not referred for appropriate and indicated diagnostic and/or investigative testing and consultations.
In April of 1998, the plaintiff presented to Internal Medicine Associates of Smithtown, P.C., complaining of a right breast mass. Furthermore, at that time, a physician's assistant employed by the group palpated a mass in the plaintiff's right axilla. However, this physicians assistant diagnosed the plaintiff with fibrocystic breast disease and lymphadenopathy.
Ultimately, in March of 1999, after the plaintiff consulted with other physicians, a biopsy was performed on this mobile, slightly tender, irregularly-shaped, palpable mass in the outer aspect of her right breast which revealed invasive lobular carcinoma. Consequently, the institution of appropriate treatment was delayed and the plaintiff's cancer was permitted to metastasize to 29 out of 30 right axillary lymph nodes.
Unfortunately, the plaintiff's breast cancer metastasized to her chest wall, left orbit, bones and liver and she was hospitalized numerous times for care and treatment relative to her metastatic breast cancer. On February 21, 2002, the plaintiff was hospitalized at
Stony
Brook
University
Hospital
with lethargy and hypocalcemia secondary to metastatic breast cancer. She was treated with calcitonin, steroids, Zometa, IV hydration and oxygen. However, the plaintiff became unresponsive. She suffered cardiopulmonary arrest, and was pronounced dead on February 25, 2002, at 10:30 p.m. The cause of the plaintiff's death listed on the death certificate was cardiopulmonary arrest due to or as a consequence of breast cancer with metastasis.
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