Jury awards $2.9 M in California medical negligence case

A judge may soon finalize a $2.9 million medical malpractice award against two Doctors in California, after a single Father filed a negligence lawsuit resulting from his wife dying from ovarian cancer.

A jury found that Dr. Young S. Kim, a primary care physician and Dr. Carline Louis-Jacques, an obstetrician failed to properly diagnose and treat a massive ovarian tumor that had been detected by medical tests during the wife’s pregnancy. The jury also found two other physicians (maternal fetal specialists) at Magella Medical Group to also be negligent. Dr. Carline Louis-Jacques also faced discipline from the Medical Board of California in 2001 for a prior negligence case.

Scott Berger’s personal injury attorneys stated that his wife should have been referred to an oncologist, after tests revealed that she had a tumor. She was instead mistakenly told that she suffered from a cyst that may have gone away on its own.

The Mother was not diagnosed with ovarian cancer until six months after giving birth. She died two months after being admitted to an emergency room for treatment.

Plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases can collect a maximum of $250,000 for pain and suffering under California state law. The $2.9 Million verdict was based upon the $250,000 for noneconomic losses, plus the award of medical costs and estimated earnings that were lost due to the wife’s death.

A five-week jury trial in a Los Angeles, California court cost the Father’s personal injury lawyers approximately $200,000 to litigate against attorneys representing the physician’s medical malpractice insurance carriers.

Attorney In Case:
Law Offices of Sonia Chaisson
11355 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310-477-3207

According to the personal injury lawsuit, the victim’s doctor submitted tissue for biopsy which was examined by Dr. Robert Goldschmidt. The diagnosis returned was “invasive breast cancer”. The physician of the victim relied upon the accuracy of the pathology report and recommended mastectomy surgery at Rush North Shore Medical Center.

“A pathology report was issued by Rush North Shore Medical Center indicating that the surgical specimen was negative for malignancy,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit further stated that an independent review by the hospital showed that the victim did not have breast cancer.

The lawsuit filed by the couple’s personal injury attorney accuses the physician who prepared the pathology report and the hospital of medical negligence, personal injury, improper diagnosis of cancer, loss of consortium and institutional negligence. The personal injury suit also alleges damages for injuries of a “personal and pecuniary” nature.