Three Maryland appeals court judges on Monday reinstated a $2.6 million verdict against one local radiologist who allegedly overlooked his patient’s breast cancer, leading to her eventual death.
The ruling overturns a Baltimore County judge’s previous decision to toss the multimillion-dollar jury recommendation, arguing the patient’s family failed to establish that the missed diagnosis directly led to Lana Burton’s death. The Court of Special Appeals this week labeled that reversal as “erroneous,” siding instead with the plaintiffs, Law360 reported.
The legal battle dates back to 2012, when Advanced Radiology physician Sanford Minkin, MD, allegedly misinterpreted ultrasound and mammography images after Burton presented with a self-discovered breast lump. That caused a stage 1 cancer case to eventually snowball into stage 3 after going untreated for 15 months, family members claimed in their complaint.
Burton died in 2016, her husband and daughter sued, and a jury ruled in their favor. But the county judge instead sided with the radiologist, granting a “judgment notwithstanding the verdict” and tossing the claim.
Advanced Radiology operates 30 imaging centers across Maryland and is part of larger operator RadNet, according to its website.
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Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.