Failure to Review Lab Results

Settlement in medical malpractice case for a 72-year-old woman whose routine bloodwork showed significant abnormalities in kidney function that were not relayed to her for over a year, leading to permanent kidney damage. The defendant physicians disputed who had access to or received the test results, as they were ordered by one provider and later performed at the plaintiff’s primary care physician’s office. The defense argued that earlier intervention would not have mattered, but the plaintiff’s expert, a local nephrologist, disclosed strong opinions to the contrary. Settlement was achieved for the patient after several years of litigation.

Recovery in a medical malpractice claim for emotional distress by parents of a baby born with a genetic blood disorder. The defendant doctor, a labor and delivery physician in the Boston-area, failed to review and inform the parents of the results of a routine blood test until shortly before the baby’s birth. SUGARMAN attorneys were able to settle the case for its clients before a lawsuit was filed.

Settlement for bilateral hearing loss in newborn where lab test showed elevated levels, but lab and physicians failed to act.

Jury verdict against medical laboratory for negligently reporting test results leading to a patient’s permanent nerve damage. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected the medical laboratory’s appeal and affirmed the jury’s verdict won by SUGARMAN.