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https://valawyersweekly.com/2023/12/10/pathologist-misinterpreted-patients-biopsy-specimen-1m-settlement/
I'm guessing the bx. of the plaintiff looked like a pretty funky reactive atypia. Good morphologists usually don't rely on IHC for bladder bxs., but at the very least he should've gotten a second opinion before sign out. Some pathology groups require a second opinion/sign-off from another pathologist before signing out a new malignancy, others don't, particularly if it's a slam dunk breast or colon ca. Either way, anybody can have an off-day and miss a dx., but maybe it was an obvious miss and his morphology skills are in need of improvement.
I also wonder if the pathologist was solo, which might make it a hassle to send-out the case, or there's no policy for showing other patholgists first-time malignancies and he was over-confident was a slam dunk ca. and signed it out, or he did show it to another colleague who hastily agreed without paying much attention. Regardless, a miss is a miss in the eyes of the judge, no matter what the circumstances.
I have heard of similar lawsuits before, but $1 million is a pretty steep settlement for pathology. Lawsuits this big can also result in immediate termination and possibly getting blackballed from getting hired at future jobs due to the size of the settlement. Be careful out there folks...
I'm guessing the bx. of the plaintiff looked like a pretty funky reactive atypia. Good morphologists usually don't rely on IHC for bladder bxs., but at the very least he should've gotten a second opinion before sign out. Some pathology groups require a second opinion/sign-off from another pathologist before signing out a new malignancy, others don't, particularly if it's a slam dunk breast or colon ca. Either way, anybody can have an off-day and miss a dx., but maybe it was an obvious miss and his morphology skills are in need of improvement.
I also wonder if the pathologist was solo, which might make it a hassle to send-out the case, or there's no policy for showing other patholgists first-time malignancies and he was over-confident was a slam dunk ca. and signed it out, or he did show it to another colleague who hastily agreed without paying much attention. Regardless, a miss is a miss in the eyes of the judge, no matter what the circumstances.
I have heard of similar lawsuits before, but $1 million is a pretty steep settlement for pathology. Lawsuits this big can also result in immediate termination and possibly getting blackballed from getting hired at future jobs due to the size of the settlement. Be careful out there folks...
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