SPBMCC Member Elizabeth Montesano Obtains $1.75 Million in Medical Malpractice Case
53-Year-Old Mother Suffers Advanced Breast Cancer After Diagnosis Failure
In April 2019, our client was diagnosed with the earliest stage of breast cancer, Stage 1A. Testing at the time of her diagnosis showed that the tumor was adherent to the fibrinous scar tissue, known as the capsule, that surrounded a breast implant in her left breast. Our client was recommended by the defendant, a breast surgeon, to undergo a lumpectomy followed by radiation to treat the breast cancer.
Our client underwent a lumpectomy in May 2019. At the follow-up office visit, a few weeks later, her breast surgeon informed her that all the cancer was removed and she could proceed with radiation therapy. However, this advice was incorrect, as the surgical pathology report stated there was a positive margin of invasive breast cancer. A positive margin signifies that cancerous tumor cells extend to the edge of the tumor where it was cut from the breast. Surgical standards require at least 2 millimeters of non-cancerous tissue from the surgical margin when removing invasive cancer.
A positive surgical margin is a red flag to physicians that there are remaining cancer cells in the breast tissue. In our client’s case, the positive margin was at the site where the tumor was stuck and adherent to, which was the fibrinous scar tissue of the capsule of the breast implant. Under these circumstances, our client required immediate further surgery to remove the entire breast implant and the capsule of fibrinous scar tissue that surrounded the breast implant to completely remove all cancer cells from her body.
Unaware of the remaining cancer cells in her breast, our client completed radiation therapy to the chest area and continued to see her surgeon over the next year where she complained of breast pain and a developing hard lump in her breast at the same location where her breast cancer tumor was removed.
Same Breast Cancer Returns One Year Later
One year after her lumpectomy, our client was diagnosed with the same breast cancer in the very same location as the prior cancer diagnosis. The tumor was large and now the cancer was advanced, with multiple additional cancerous masses in the breast as well as cancer that had spread to three lymph nodes. Our client endured a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and proton radiation therapy, with many side effects and complications.
Montesano Secures $1.75 Million Settlement on the Eve of Trial
A lawsuit was started on our client’s behalf and the case was prosecuted against the defendant in the Supreme Court in the County of a New York City area suburb, through to the eve of trial, when a settlement was reached on behalf of the plaintiff by Elizabeth Montesano for $1.75 million.
The claims of medical malpractice were investigated and supported by expert physicians retained by SPBMCC. The experts advised that the recurrence of cancer one year later was entirely avoidable and our client was deprived of an earlier and curable breast cancer, by not removing all of the invasive breast cancer in 2019.
Learn More About Firm Member Elizabeth Montesano
Elizabeth Montesano, a firm member, is a vigorous advocate for people injured due to medical malpractice. Her legal skills and experience have helped her clients achieve many multimillion-dollar settlements. Ms. Montesano handles all types of medical malpractice cases, including birth injuries, delays in cancer diagnosis, and surgical and cardiac cases. To learn more about firm Member Elizabeth Montesano, click here.