Facts

In December 2008, plaintiff Jane Doe, 55, developed lower back pain. Imaging studies showed a lesion at L5-S1 that appeared to be benign.

On March 13, 2009, Roe neurosurgeon attempted to perform a gross total resection of the lesion. This resulted in a foot drop.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff argued that the appearance of the lesion on pre-operative imaging was such that one could not rule out a malignancy. She argued that the standard of care, therefore, required the performance of a frozen section biopsy at the outset of the surgery. The lesion was found to be a B-cell lymphoma. Had this been known, surgery would have been aborted and plaintiff would have been treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defense argued that plaintiff's actions represented a reasonable exercise of neurosurgical judgment.

Result

The case settled for $180,000 at mediation with Joseph Thielen, Esq.