Jury Awards More Than $4.4M for Delayed Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment

​A Massachusetts jury has awarded more than $4.4 million to the estate of a woman whose breast cancer was not detected despite reporting pain and a lump during multiple visits over several years, according to an article in Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts.

The defendant first reported left breast pain and migraines when she was 34 years old, but no diagnostic tests were performed following a physical exam. She reported the same symptoms three months later, but no testing was performed, and her chart did not include any mention of these symptoms. She again reported pain five years later, this time with a lump present; although her symptoms were noted in her chart, no testing was ordered. At a fourth visit, eight months later, she again reported a painful, enlarged lump with a burning sensation in her right breast. Although the defendant noted a one-centimeter, hard, rubbery mass and ordered an ultrasound, no...