The decedent was an Asian male in his late 60s with a lifelong chronic hepatitis B infection, a known risk factor for liver cancer. He saw the same primary care practice for about ten years.
The plaintiff alleged that the primary care physician and practice breached the standard of care by:
- Never performing routine liver cancer surveillance despite the decedent’s documented risk profile.
- Failing to follow up on abnormal liver enzyme results at two annual visits about a year apart, with values rising significantly between them.
- Failing to order imaging or a specialist referral until liver function had become severely abnormal.
Once imaging was finally done, it showed advanced, multifocal liver cancer that had spread to the lungs and bone. The cancer was incurable at diagnosis, and all treatment was palliative. The patient died after a short time leaving a widow and adult children.
The case was settled for $1,400,000 several weeks after an inconclusive mediation. At the time, only written discovery had been exchanged between the parties.
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