Navigating Nature’s Timeline
Clifton Acord and David Rissman
Maintaining a clean bill of health is always the target for both patient and provider. But sometimes the natural evolution of the disease and associated complications simply cannot be sidestepped.
In a recent medical malpractice case, Rissman attorneys Cliff Acord and David Rissman obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the clinical team and associated regional medical center in a case involving a patient’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.
In the case at hand, the plaintiff alleged the defendant missed a mass during the patient’s routine screening mammogram, and that this caused a delay in the diagnosis of her breast cancer. Her subsequent treatment made strides to address the cancer, but years later the patient’s disease recurred in the spine, leading to a declaration of an imminent reduction in life expectancy.
Ultimately, the defense argued that the disease itself, rather than the delay in diagnosis, was the cause of the recurrence and the reduced life expectancy. The jury found in favor of the defense.