Confidential
Settlement – $200,000Judge
Court
Orange Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Daniel M. Hodes
(Hodes Milman LLP)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Neil Barth
(medical)
David A. Margileth
(medical)
Defendant
Thompson Adams
(medical)
Michael L. Steinberg
(medical)
Charles Haskell
(medical)
Facts
In September of 1992, Plaintiff, a 61-year-old post-menopausal homemaker, was diagnosed by Defendant with 3 cm. cancerous lump in her left breast. She was found to have 8 positive lymph nodes. Flow cytometry revealed an aggressive cancer, with her S-phase fraction found to be 25%; DNA index was aneuploid at 1.6; and the tumor was pathologically poorly differentiated. She was found to be estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive. Following a lumpectomy, she was told by Defendant that the only treatment needed was radiation therapy and Tamoxifen, an estrogen antagonist. She was told that she did not need chemotherapy. Plaintiff began attending a cancer support group, at which issues of chemotherapy were discussed. She returned several times to Defendant HMO, asking about chemotherapy, but was reassured that Tamoxifen was the only viable treatment. In February of 1993, she obtained an independent consultation with an oncologist not associated with Defendant HMO. He told Plaintiff that she most certainly should have gotten chemotherapy, given the extent of lymph node involvement at diagnosis. In October of 1993, she was found to have metastatic bone disease. Her prognosis is terminal.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiff contends she demanded $250,000 and Defendant HMO offered $160,000. Defendant contends that Plaintiff originally demanded $650,000 to settle both the medical malpractice action and the potential wrongful death action.
Injuries
Terminal cancer.
Other Information
This result was a global settlement, resolving both matters.
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