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#49411 02-28-2003 11:44 AM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 68
Supporting Member (50+ posts)
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Supporting Member (50+ posts)

Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 68
hi all,

i currently am in the middle of my malpractice suite against the dental professionals who missed my diagnosis. my lawyer thinks we have a great case......and it has really helped that i have had him by my side throughout all of my treatments and complications. they have taken lots of pictures of my surgery scars, radiation burns, fistulas etc.

the only problem is that it will take a long time to resolve. first they have to get a team of experts together to look at all of my records, and then it's basically a battle of my experts vs. the dental professionals. hopefully this will all be through in 3 years, but who knows.


I survived because I kept hope alive!!! Live, laugh, love and keep fighting hard.
Jeanette
Stage 3 oral cancer...over 60% of tongue and all lymph nodes on right side removed...July 2002.
Chemo and Radiation...ended September 2002.
#49412 02-28-2003 03:31 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,912
Likes: 52
OCF Founder
Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
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OCF Founder
Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)

Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,912
Likes: 52
Failure to Diagnose Cases. This is one on the record books already, there are others out there. Many cases are settled with a non disclosure clause, and that prevents people from knowing what exactly transpired. I am going to set up a poll on the message board this weekend to survey those that come here in the next 30 days on their experiences in getting diagnosed properly. But here is one case to look at.

Plaintiff was a 64 year old former citrus plant packer who had been 100% disabled for a number of years when she visited Dr. M., a general dentist, to have upper and lower partial dentures made. Within a week after the insertion of the lower partial denture, the patient began to complain to the dentist that she had a sore under the denture on the left side, that she feared she had cancer and that her father had oral cancer.

Her complaints were largely dismissed and the dentist and dental assistants polished down part of the denture several times during the two months following insertion of the denture. The patient claimed that twice during the two months after insertion, the dentist advised her to leave the partial denture out and not wear it for brief periods.

The patient continued to complain and eventually, five months after insertion, the dentist made a progress note that documented that she had a "denture sore," for the first time. He again told her to leave the denture out and three days later, she returned complaining that the sore was bigger and hurting more. The dentist dismissed her complaints, writing a note that said she was "healing better."

Six days later, the patient's "denture sore" was biopsied by an oral surgeon and proven to be infiltrating Stage III squamous cell carcinoma. The patient underwent a wide excision including partial mandibulectomy and radical neck dissection followed by radiation therapy. She developed osteoradionecrosis and lost her entire left mandible despite having gone through 87 hyperbaric oxygen "dives". She also had several recurrences which further disfigured her and eventually resulted in the loss of her tongue.

Shortly before trial, plaintiff found and handed over to her attorneys the partial denture which revealed that the saddle area of the denture had been ground down and polished in precisely the location of the tumor; the saddle had been shortened by the full width of the artificial second molar tooth. Plaintiff argued that such dramatic modification of the denture could only be explained by having to accommodate the slowly growing tumor mass into which the denture was impinging and causing the pain. The denture was admitted into evidence during the trial.

The defendant dentist was never asked about the partial denture because it was discovered after the defendant's deposition had been taken. The defendant's attorney argued that the denture was mutilated on one visit when the dentist first documented the denture sore. The defendant dentist sat through the trial but did not testify in his own defense. His defense also centered on a "field cancerization" theory, contending that regardless of when the tumor was detected, even if it were detected when tiny, the plaintiff was going to have radiation anyway and would develop multiple recurrences anyway because of an unknown genetic defect which predisposed some non-smoker, non-drinker patients to multiple cancers.

A jury returned a verdict for plaintiff after a confidential "high-low" settlement was reached.

This defense that the patient had genetic defects that would have caused him to have cancer anyway has been tried before and seldom works. In all cancers we know that the earlier the diagnosis, the more positive the final outcome. Statistically those found with stage 1 and 2 cancers live longer and have less morbidity than those who have stage 3 and 4 cancers.

Plaintiff's experts: Richard R. Souviron, D.D.S., Coral Gables, FL (general dentistry); James J. Sciubba, D.M.D., Ph.D., New Hyde Park, NY (oral pathology); Randy V. Heysek, M.D., Lakeland, FL (radiation oncology); Gerald Sokol, M.D., Tampa, FL (radiation oncology); James R. Chandler, M.D., Miami, FL (ear, nose & throat surgery). Defendant's experts: Charles L. Ross, D.D.S., Miami, FL (general dentistry); Ronald A. Baughman, D.D.S., Gainesville, FL (oral pathology); Gordon Saskin, M.D., St. Petersburg, FL (ear, nose & throat surgery); Robert E. Marx, D.D.S., Miami, FL (oral surgery).

Polk County, Florida, Circuit Court Case No. GCG-93-2883. J. Ron Smith, Esq., of Smith, Cassidy, Harris, Platt & Radabaugh, P.A., Lakeland, FL and Kenneth P. Liroff, D.D.S., J.D.,


Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
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