June 8, 2004

Donald Brown successfully defended a Louisville internist from charges of medical negligence when the internist missed a breast cancer diagnosis.  When the internist did finally detect the cancer, the patient had to undergo a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy treatments, and now suffers from reduced life expectancy.   Plaintiff asked for over 3.7 million dollars in damages, claiming that if the cancer were caught earlier, the outcome would not have been as severe.  The defense effectively counter-argued that when the Plaintiff alleged the doctor missed diagnosing the cancer, there was in fact no cancer apparent, and when the cancer finally manifested itself, the internist detected it, and a satisfactory recovery was made.  The jury awarded the Plaintiff no damages.