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Shulman Rogers is proud to announce that Michele Bartoli Cain a shareholder at the firm, recently obtained a significant settlement of $1.4 million on behalf of her client in a medical malpractice case.

The case involved the client’s metastatic prostate cancer, which was not treated in a timely manner.

The settlement was reached through the efforts of retired Judge Johanna Fitzpatrick and attorney Scott Kurlander, who served as co-mediators in the case.

Bartoli Cain was joined in representing the Plaintiff by attorney Wallace B. Wason, Jr.

The case revolved around the following facts:

The Plaintiff  underwent a radical prostatectomy following a diagnosis of prostate cancer.  After the surgery, the Plaintiff received follow-up care from his surgeon and was subsequently released to his primary care provider for ongoing monitoring. In post-surgery monitoring, the Plaintiff’s PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test results should have been below <.2ng/ml. Initially, the plaintiff’s PSA fell within the expected range. However, over time, the PSA levels increased, but the Plaintiff was not informed by his physician about the rising PSA results or their significance. Thus the recurrent cancer went undiagnosed. Eventually, the Plaintiff accessed his test results through his patient portal and sought medical care, leading to a diagnosis of extensive metastatic disease.

The allegations included that the defendant breached the standard of care in multiple respects, including the failure to appropriately respond to and act upon abnormal PSA test results, most significantly, the failure to inform the patient of these abnormal results. Tragically, just five weeks after the case was resolved through mediation, the patient passed away at the age of 65.

Reflecting on the matter, Bartoli Cain stated, “While we are pleased to have achieved justice for our client through this settlement, it is, of course, bittersweet, considering the untimely passing of the patient.”