Unneeded Mastectomy Lawsuit Brings Patient Nearly $1 Million

A Louisiana judge has awarded a patient $964,487 for damages and future medical expenses after a misdiagnosed biopsy led to an unnecessary mastectomy.

A recurring lump in her left breast led patient Latoya Monroe to undergo a needle core biopsy at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma, La., in January 2006, according to court records. After pathologist Charles Binford, MD, reported that the biopsied tissue exhibited "infiltrating ductal carcinoma grade I," Ms. Monroe underwent a modified radical mastectomy.

A post-op examination of tissue sampled during the surgery found no infiltrating ductal carcinoma, however, and a second review by an outside pathology service revealed none in the biopsy or surgical samples. A state medical review panel unanimously agreed that Dr. Binford and Chabert Medical Center failed to meet proper standards of care.

Ms. Monroe sued Dr. Binford as well as the state of Louisiana, which her attorneys argued was vicariously liable for the pathology misdiagnosis since the medical center is part of the Louisiana State University Health System it operates.

Her attorneys accused the defendants of negligence in its patient care, treatment and supervision. Following a non-jury trial in April 2012, Judge Timothy C. Ellender ruled in Ms. Monroe's favor on June 4. "[Dr.] Binford's misdiagnosis of malignant invasive ductal carcinoma and [his] failure to make the correct diagnosis of benign sclerosing adenosis was medical malpractice," he wrote.

Attorney J. Rene Williams of Houma, who represented the state and Dr. Binford in the trial, disagreed with the plaintiff's $964,487 award. "I think the judge was wrong on the amount of the award. I think he went overboard with that," he said, adding that the defendants are planning to appeal.

Ms. Monroe's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

David Bernard