Fairfax Radiology Malpractice Case Results - Family awarded 1.25$ Million Dollars

(FAIRFAX, VA) -- In a heated malpractice trial, the jury rules in favor of the plaintiff and against the radiology practice resulting in an award of $1.25 million dollars. The case surrounds a patient who had suffered from severe chest pain and underwent CT which was interpreted by the radiologist as a large hiatal hernia but ultimately turned out to be a perforated esophagus. The perforated esophagus was picked up by a surgeon upon re-review of the CT scan per various news sources. Surgery was immediately scheduled but the patient then suffered a cardiac arrest during pre-op anesthesia during epidural catheter placement. The lawsuit claims that a delay in diagnosis resulted in the patients fragile state leading to cardiac arrest. Anesthesiology and Radiology were both named in this lawsuit. Anesthesiology settled the case for $600,000 but radiology opted for trial.