An Indiana man was awarded $2.5 million by a jury in a medical malpractice suit. The jury sided with the patient, a former Indiana police officer, and found that the doctor failed to use the proper standard of care in ignoring the signs of colon cancer, leading to a delayed diagnosis.

The trial began in early February. It took four days of testimony and six hours of deliberation for the jury to return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. The jury was not informed of the Indiana medical malpractice damage cap, however, so the $2.5 million award will be reduced to the statutory cap of $1.25 million.

The case turned on the issue of whether the doctor failed to order necessary tests despite the patient's symptoms that should have pointed the doctor to the possibility of cancer. According to court documents, the patient went to the Terre Haute, Indiana, doctor in 2004 complaining of "rectal bleeding and other gastric complaints."

At the time the patient saw the doctor, complaining of serious stomach and intestinal issues, he was only 35 years old. Rather than order important colon cancer screening tests, the doctor requested an upper Gastrointestinal test to address other stomach issues.

The patient received a second opinion from another doctor in Arizona when the symptoms persisted in 2006. The new doctor ordered the critical colonoscopy test to determine whether the patient was suffering from colon cancer. Upon receiving the results from the colonoscopy, the patient was informed that he had Stage 4 cancer and that there was no cure for him. The 42-year-old former Indiana police officer is now expected to live less than a year.

The harm from a delayed diagnosis or a cancer misdiagnosis is often immeasurable. The patient and the family often suffer significantly when the doctor makes a medical mistake that cuts the patient's life tragically short. While the compensation awarded to the patient in this case is woefully short of what is necessary to compensate him for a shortened life expectancy, it may bring some sort of relief to him and his family and enable them to pay for his end-of-life care expenses.

Source: Tribune Star "Vigo Jury Awards $2.5M in Medical Malpractice Case," Lisa Trigg, 3/5/2011