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Med Mal Verdict 'Shocked the Conscience'

By Jennifer Batchelor
October 07, 2003

In a Philadelphia case in which a defendant doctor testified at trial that he believed there was a 20% chance that his patient's cancer had returned but that he did not do anything to confirm his suspicion until approximately 14 months later, the Superior Court ruled that a jury verdict for the defendant so 'shocked the conscience' as to merit a new trial.

A three-judge panel characterized the physician's inaction as 'negligent failure to aggressively treat his patient.' The panel also said the defendant's failure to order a biopsy after noting possibly cancerous changes to the plaintiff patient's right breast substantially increased the woman's risk of harm, and decreased her chances of remaining cancer-free for a 5-year period from perhaps 90% to zero.

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