Mecklenburg County Medical Malpractice Suit – $1.5 Million Settlement
Charlotte, North Carolina resident recovered a $1.5 million settlement claiming his dermatologist should have told him that his negative biopsy results did not rule out melanoma.
According to “North Carolina Lawyers Weekly” (June 03, 2002 issue), in the case of Terrence C. Forrest v. Gary D. Waldman and Gary D. Waldman, M.D., P.A. (00-CvS-19190; Mecklenburg County), the 46 year old plaintiff claimed that he was told “everything was fine” by his physician’s office in regards to the results of a 1997 biopsy of a mole on his forearm. He filed a malpractice lawsuit against the dermatologist. after discovering metastatic melanoma in his armpit eighteen months later.
Mr. Forrest’s defense attorney, Joe Dozier, a respected, successful criminal lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina stated, “We argued that because the defendant didn’t know that, melanoma should have been part of his differential diagnosis, because if you’re wrong, the patient dies. This is a deadly disease but if you catch it early there’s a 50 percent chance of survival. After that, your chances drop dramatically… The defendant should have told my client to monitor it and look for any signs that it had spread. Instead, the nurse told him not to worry about anything and the doctor sent a letter to another one of the plaintiff’s physicians basically saying that everything was okay. So 18 months went by without the plaintiff having any warning to be on the lookout or having any tests to see if cancer was there.”
Dozier stated further that “the defendant might have had a credibility problem if the case went to trial.” Evidently, the doctor’s office had sent three separate biopsy reports each claiming to be the original.
Although the $1.5 million settled upon was less than policy limits, Dozier stated, “The reason we settled was so the plaintiff could get some money and enjoy it during the few years he has left. That’s the tough decision you face in these cases — whether to fight for the last dollar or get some money for the client while he’s still alive.”
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