Doctor Misses Cancer, Victim Wins $15M in Malpractice Suit

The woman had a marble-sized lump that a doctor first said was not malignant.

By Greg Cergol

|  Friday, Feb 10, 2012  |  Updated 6:28 PM EST

A Long Island breast cancer victim has been awarded $15 million in a malpractice suit against her doctor after her cancer was initially missed, despite a lump in her breast.

Stephanie Tesoriero, 50, had claimed the doctor misdiagnosed her cancer, costing her precious time in fighting the disease.

“This could have all been avoided,” Tesoriero said.

The mother of three first discovered a marble-sized lump in her breast in 2002.

After reviewing her mammogram, Dr. Paul Fisher of the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center in Stony Brook concluded there was “no evidence of malignancy.”  He ordered no further tests, according to Tesoriero.

The doctor instructed her to return for a normal exam in about a year, Tesoriero said. But the lump didn’t go away.

And when she received more tests 16 months later, Tesoriero said, another doctor found that the lump was as big as a golf ball. He determined it was, in fact, breast cancer.

“Why didn’t they find it the first time?” Tesoriero asked. “Why didn’t they go the extra step and do a sonogram?”

A mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation treatments all followed and, for a time, the cancer went into remission. That’s when Tesoriero decided to sue her doctor.

The two-week trial ended Wednesday with a jury of six women approving the multimillion-dollar award.

Two calls to Fisher’s lawyer were not returned. He remains on staff at the Baldwin Breast Care Center, but since the center itself was not named in the lawsuit and oversaw Tesoriero’s later treatment, a spokeswoman offered no comment.

“They found him negligent because he was,” said her lawyer Robert Fallarino. “There was something there, something she felt, and it needed to be evaluated and if it had been, we would not be here now.”

“I just wanted him to admit he made a mistake,” Tesoriero said of her doctor. “Doctors do make mistakes.”

Tesoriero’s cancer fight is far from over. The cancer has returned and has spread to her bones.

The prognosis is uncertain, her lawyer said. Tesoriero must now undergo chemotherapy treatments nearly every week for the rest of her life.

“I don’t want to see anybody else go through this,” Tesoriero said.  “It’s a tough fight.”

Tesoriero has spoken out, she said, to sound a warning for other women.

“If you have any suspicions, any doubts,” she said, “speak to the doctor and ask for another test.”

Jury Awards $15 Million to Breast Cancer Victim Against Doctor for Misdiagnosis and Negligent Care

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jury-awards-15-million-to-breast-cancer-victim-against-doctor-for-misdiagnosis-and-negligent-care-139088869.html

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — A jury in Suffolk County Supreme Court returned a $15,000,000.00 verdict against Paul R. Fisher M.D. The jury found in favor of Stephanie Tesorioro, a breast cancer victim who went to the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Center with a complaint of a lump and was wrongly told that everything was okay.  Her Attorney, Robert V. Fallarino, reported that Dr. Paul R. Fisher failed to see abnormalities on mammography and failed to do a simple test, a sonography, of the area where the patient felt the lump.  Due to these failures, Stephanie Tesorioro, the mother of three children (all 10 and under), missed her opportunity to have the cancer diagnosed at the earliest possible time.  Instead, 16 months later, the cancer, due to this failure to diagnose, spread to her lymph nodes and bones.

 

The trial encompassed over two weeks in front of Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Hector LaSalle who sits in Central Islip. The jury heard testimony from Stephanie’s expert, a Board Certified Radiologist, about what steps should have been taken by Dr. Fisher when he treated Stephanie in October 2002.  In addition, there was expert testimony from a surgical oncologist who explained to the jury how the cancer traveled from the breast throughout her body and what Dr. Fisher’s negligent care will mean for Stephanie and her family.

 

Robert V. Fallarino, from the law firm of Pegalis & Erickson, represented Stephanie Tesorioro.  Mr. Fallarino’s closing arguments to the jury, explained in simple terms, all the medical evidence that they had heard over the preceding two weeks.  After a day of deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous verdict against Dr. Fisher.

 

Robert V. Fallarino, Pegalis and Erickson, LLC., Lake Success, N.Y. represented plaintiff – Stephanie Tesorioro.
William Collins, Syosset, N.Y. represented defendant - Paul R. Fisher, M.D.
Judge – Hector LaSalle

 

About Pegalis and Erickson: Pegalis & Erickson, LLC is a Long Island based firm dedicated to representing individuals or their families that have been seriously injured as a result of medical malpractice, negligence and failure to diagnose. A voice and advocate for medical patient safety, our core philosophy is to represent injured patients while helping to suppress the actions of careless medical practices by way of instituting accountability to parties responsible in the blatant disregard of medical safety procedures that have impacted lives. www.pegalisanderickson.com

 

CONTACT: Robert V. Fallarino - Office 1-516-684-2900

 

SOURCE Pegalis and Erickson, LLC

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