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On September 21, 1982, the complainant 32-year-old woman visited her accused gynecologist

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On September 21, 1982, the Queens complainant 32-year-old woman visited her accused gynecologist for her annual check-up. At that time, the gynecologist made note of a one-centimeter mass on the outside lower quadrant of the woman’s left breast which he tentatively classified as a galactocele or a milk-filled cyst, but no further tests were performed. Ten months later, the woman returned to her Staten Island gynecologist complaining of a painful lump in her left breast and a swelling under her left arm. Following a mammography and other examinations, the mass in the woman’s breast was diagnosed as cancer which had metastasized or spread, to three ribs and two vertebrae. The woman died nearly two years later, as a result of the extensive metastasis of the cancer leaving as the sole beneficiary of her estate her then four-year-old daughter.

At the time her condition was first diagnosed, she was in the process of obtaining a divorce from her husband who contributed nothing toward her own or her child’s support. Although after the birth of her daughter, she had discontinued working outside the home, she was certified as a teacher for kindergarten through twelfth grade and had been a permanent substitute teacher in the Lawrence school district for one and one-half years prior to her daughter’s birth. She held undergraduate degrees in art education and psychology and was working toward obtaining an advanced degree in psychology in preparation for a child psychology program. She had always been a very self-sufficient and independent person. She had fully participated in the daily activities of her child. Because of her rapidly deteriorating physical condition and the negative effects of the medical treatment, the woman’s life changed to a tragically radical degree. She initially underwent two months of hormone therapy which was discontinued when she stopped responding. She began experiencing excruciating pain in her right leg which was determined to be caused by an additional lesion. She was then placed on a program of pain killers including morphine and methadone which her treating physician testified only dulled the recognition of pain in the brain but did not eliminate the pain. She also received a combination of five chemotherapy drugs which caused debilitating side effects. She became constipated, weak and tired, suffered from insomnia and began losing weight at the rate of two or three pounds per week. Her bones became very brittle and she was warned by her physicians to be very careful to avoid breaking them. In fact, she had to be hospitalized on three separate occasions for hypocalcaemia which is an elevation of calcium in the blood causing sleeplessness, lethargy, confusion, difficulty in walking, severe dehydration and ultimately death. The continuous vomiting caused by the chemotherapy resulted in dental infections and the loss of six teeth which she had to have extracted with only a minimal amount of novacaine due to the chemotherapy.

The woman became a virtual invalid. She relied on a homemaker, her friends and family to care for her child, to shop for her, to clean her house, to prepare meals and to drive her to the hospital. She had no physical strength. She was too weak to pick up her daughter or to perform any type of housework. Moreover, because of her weakened bones, she was afraid to go to any crowded places such as a train station or shopping mall for fear of being hit in her ribs or vertebrae. In any event, she was physically unable to shop for herself. Her social life became nonexistent.

Perhaps the more difficult pain for her was the emotional and psychological pain she suffered as a result of the loss of control over her life, the changed attitudes toward her of her family and friends and the strain of her illness on her relationship with her daughter. Her daughter was greatly affected by her illness and had difficulty understanding why her mother could no longer participate in activities with her. While she arranged for her daughter to be raised by her brother and sister-in-law who have three sons, she was saddened that she could bear no other children to provide brothers and sisters for her daughter.

In view of the woman’s extensive losses and suffering, the aggregate award on the first cause of action was well within the bounds of reason. The question remains whether, notwithstanding the reasonableness of the award, the trial court correctly included in its instructions on damages, a separate instruction on loss of enjoyment of life. The trial court’s instructions to the jury were entirely proper.

The complainant commenced an action to recover damages for conscious pain and suffering and wrongful death. The woman’s gynecologist and his professional corporation are charged with various acts of medical malpractice stemming from his failure to properly diagnose the woman’s breast cancer and to provide appropriate medical care and treatment. The jury, after finding the accused 90% liable and the deceased woman 10% contributorily negligent, rendered award of damages, in accordance with the court’s instructions and special interrogatories.

The accused gynecologist immediately moved to set aside the verdict on the grounds that as to liability the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and inconsistent. The gynecologist further charged that the damages awarded for the injuries were excessive, the damages for loss of enjoyment of life were duplicative of the damages awarded for pain and suffering, the amount awarded for prospective loss of inheritance was speculative, and the award of damages for college costs was also speculative as well as duplicative of the recovery for loss of support. The trial court denied the motion and, thereafter, entered judgment for the amounts awarded by the jury reduced by the 10% of the fault attributable to the complainant. The amount of the judgment with interest, costs and disbursements totaled $845,772.59.

The accused gynecologist’s appeal, arguing that the verdict as to liability is against the weight of the credible evidence adduced at the trial, the awards of separate amounts of damages for pain and suffering and impairment of the ability to enjoy life are duplicative, and the awards to the woman’s child on the wrongful death cause of action for loss of prospective inheritance and cost of a college education are speculative.

The trial court’s denial of the accused gynecologist’s motion to set aside the verdict in favor of the complainant as against the weight of the evidence is affirmed. As the courts have frequently stated, a verdict will be set aside on this basis only if the jury determination could not have been reached on any fair interpretation of the evidence. On such a review, the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the complainant to determine whether a sufficient rational basis exists to support the jury’s finding of liability as to the accused.

One of the key issues in controversy at trial was whether the lump that the gynecologist first noticed in the woman’s breast in September 1982 was the same as the cancerous tumor surgically removed from the woman’s breast one year later. Apparently because of the woman’s history of being cystic, the gynecologist was not overly concerned about the lump upon its initial appearance. According to his trial testimony, after making a tentative determination that the lump was a one centimeter galactocele and making a diagram indicating the location of the lump, he advised the woman to return for a follow-up examination in two or three months. He conducted no further procedures to either confirm his diagnosis or to rule out the possibility of carcinoma. Nor did he advise the woman to examine her breasts during the intervening period. His office records confirm that he had doubts with respect to his diagnosis since next to the word galactocele and next to the diagram on which he indicated the location of the lump he placed a question mark. The records further corroborated his instructions to the woman.

In the course of the woman’s examination before trial, conducted prior to her death and read into the trial record in pertinent part, she testified that her gynecologist had found her to be in good health at the time of her checkup in September 1982 and told her to return in a year. Discovery of a painful lump and swelling under her left arm prompted the woman to return to her gynecologist. During that examination, she saw a diagram in her file with an X where the lump was. To her surprise, her gynecologist had been aware of the lump, identified it as a cyst and reassured her that he was watching it. No recommendation was issued that a mammography be performed or another physician be consulted. Her doctor simply prescribed vitamins and instructed her to return after her next period. Only later when she consulted the surgery doctor, upon her gynecologist’s recommendation did she learn the gravity of her condition. The surgeon was able to confirm the presence of cancer after only a brief examination because the skin in the area of the lump had a dimpling effect resembling the skin of an orange when it was palpated in a certain manner. Owing to the advanced nature of the cancer, a lumpectomy rather than a mastectomy was later performed. Following surgery, the woman was placed on a regimen of hormonal therapy and later chemotherapy.

The gynecologist’s expert evidence consisting of the testimony of a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, and a pathologist, was presented to refute the allegations of medical malpractice. The accused parties’ experts were consistent in their opinion that although the lesion which was palpated in September 1982 was in the same location as the tumor removed in September 1983 the former did not lead to the latter. The basis for the opinion was the theory of doubling times which refers to the growth rate of tumors. According to the doubling times concept of oncology, a tumorous mass hypothetically doubles in size every 60 days. If the theory were followed in its strictest sense, the woman’s September 1983 tumor would not have been palpable in September 1982. However, the accused parties’ experts agreed that studies measuring the growth rate in the human breast as opposed to the laboratory have shown doubling times ranging from 20 to 209 days. The gynecologist expert also conceded that the failure to take any measures following the discovery of a lesion in the woman’s breast in September 1982 would have been a departure from accepted medical practice. His opinion that the woman’s gynecologist had acted in accordance with accepted medical standards in the community stemmed from his rejection of the woman’s statements that her gynecologist did not tell her about the lump.

With due deference to the jury’s determination based upon its opportunity to observe and hear the witnesses, and weighing the conflicting testimony of the parties and their respective experts, we cannot say that the evidence so preponderant in favor of the gynecologist that the jury could not have reached their conclusion upon any fair interpretation of the evidence. Viewing the entire body of evidence, it was entirely plausible for the jury to conclude that the lesion noted in the woman’s medical record in 1982 developed into the malignant tumor removed in 1983 and to find that the gynecologist was negligent in failing to order tests or to follow up his initial examination to check the condition of the lump. The total verdict reflected a thoughtful evaluation of the evidence and not merely a determination, as the gynecologist suggest, which reflected an overriding sympathy for the woman’s infant daughter. Therefore, the verdict as to liability must stand.

When we become ill, our condition either gets better or gets worst. If found out at an early stage, illness have better chance of being cured. If your physician was unable to properly diagnose your condition, consult a Queens Medical Malpractice Lawyer or a Queens Injury Attorney from Stephen Bilkis and Associates.

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