Medical Malpractice Litigation Settlement Recovery

Volusia County, FL

This action involved allegations of medical malpractice by a man in his fifties (Plaintiff-victim), a husband and father of four children, against a dermatologist who performed a skin cancer screening and failed to recognize melanoma on his back. The dermatologist denied any wrongdoing.

The Plaintiff-victim had a spot (lesion) on his back in an area that was difficult for him to see. His wife told him that the lesion had been there for years. When the Plaintiff-victim went to the Defendant-doctor for a skin cancer screen, he relayed what he knew about the lesion to the Defendant-doctor. The dermatologist did not recognize that the lesion had features of cancer, and told the patient that the lesion was benign without any diagnostic testing, such as biopsy, of the lesion.

Approximately a year after the last visit with the Defendant-doctor, the Plaintiff noticed that the lesion changed and he reported the changes to a different doctor – who referred the Plaintiff-victim to local specialists to assess the changing spot. In a matter of weeks, it was confirmed that the skin lesion on the Plaintiff-victim’s back was not benign – it was melanoma.

The plaintiff-victim was referred by local doctors to a cancer center with melanoma specialists who tragically told the plaintiff-victim and his family that the skin cancer had spread beyond his back. Tragically, the treatment options available to Plaintiff were limited given that the cancer had spread.

When this tragic and preventable misdiagnosis of cancer case confidentially settled, the Plaintiff-victim was still alive and planning to use the proceeds from his settlement to enjoy whatever time he had left with his family.

Victims of medical malpractice must retain skilled litigation and trial counsel to zealously pursue their losses and damages. When a Plaintiff-victim’s life is shortened by medical malpractice, the case proceeds recovered by Emerson Straw for these victims can provide opportunities for victims to pursue costly and otherwise unavailable medical treatment – or to spend more time with family that they may not otherwise have without case recovered resources. Contact Emerson Straw PL if you have any questions at www.emersonstraw.com.