Jury Awards $5.7 Million in Cancer Patient Malpractice Suit
West News • May 25, 2007
A Superior Court jury awarded $5.7 million in damages to a bedridden man who claimed a doctor failed to diagnose his skin cancer.
The verdict is the largest medical-malpractice award in California ...
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Subject: Cancer Malpractice Award
Posted On: May 29, 2007, 8:27 am CDT
Posted By: Bill Reed
Comment:
In order to portray these types of scenarios in a fair and complete way, commentary on the defense arguments should be included, assuming of course there are any. It would also be nice to know if the outcome would have been significantly different had the cyst been biopsied earlie, and if this pltf. had other cysts.
On a related issue, there needs to be some reform on the standard of negligence for medical malpractice. We don't live in a perfect world and to hold physicians to a 100% error free standard is unrealistic. In cases of gross negligence malpractice is the appropriate charge. What about when a surgeon makes an honest mistake. Malpractice? There are inherent risks in anything people do. When you consent to a surgery, you understand there are associated risks. While doctors insurance carriers should pay for actual damages as the result of a mistake, general damages should be reserved only for true malpractice situations. Doctors should be given credit for evena attempting surgeries. There are a lot of variables when working on a human body that can't be controlled. It's not like working on a car.
West News 
Subject: Cancer Malpractice Award
On a related issue, there needs to be some reform on the standard of negligence for medical malpractice. We don't live in a perfect world and to hold physicians to a 100% error free standard is unrealistic. In cases of gross negligence malpractice is the appropriate charge. What about when a surgeon makes an honest mistake. Malpractice? There are inherent risks in anything people do. When you consent to a surgery, you understand there are associated risks. While doctors insurance carriers should pay for actual damages as the result of a mistake, general damages should be reserved only for true malpractice situations. Doctors should be given credit for evena attempting surgeries. There are a lot of variables when working on a human body that can't be controlled. It's not like working on a car.