$725,000 Settlement: Ignored Stomach Discomfort Leads to Delayed Cancer Diagnosis

Rawls Law Group recently reached a $725,000 settlement for the family of 71-year-old woman in Virginia who died tragically from metastatic colon cancer.

The mother of RLG’s client had visited the same primary care doctor for years when she began experiencing stomach discomfort. The primary care doctor dismissed the symptoms as being related to irritable bowel syndrome, even when the woman’s stomach discomfort worsened and began interrupting her sleep.

Due to the misdiagnosis, the primary care doctor failed to order imaging or refer the woman to a gastroenterologist. As a result, the decedent’s cancer was allowed to spread untreated for years.

Ultimately, the decedent’s daughter noticed a large lump in her mother’s abdomen and brought it to the primary care doctor’s attention. Finally, the primary care doctor ordered abdominal imaging, which revealed the woman had cancer in her colon that had spread to her entire body. By then, it was too late to treat.

The case was not without difficulties. There was a factual dispute about whether the doctor told the decedent to seek additional diagnostic tests or help from a specialist. The defense also argued that the decedent’s symptoms were atypical and inconsistent; therefore, her cancer could not have been diagnosed earlier.

Despite the difficulties in the case, RLG was able to resolve the case for $725,000, which is a significant award, considering Virginia’s cap on damages in medical malpractice cases.