Indiana Accident News

Illinois Medical Malpractice Trial Begins Over Skin Cancer Diagnosis

An Illinois man is suing a family practice doctor for medical malpractice after his wife died of skin cancer that she said was originally misdiagnosed.

Maria Storm went to a Maryville doctor in 1998 to have a large mole removed from her back. When it grew back quickly a year later, Storm went to family practitioner Dr. Patrick Zimmerman, who removed the mole once again but did not sent it out for testing for malignancy. In 2003, Storm was diagnosed with skin cancer and died of the disease two years later. She was 36 years old.

The skin cancer misdiagnosis trial went to court in 2007, but Douglas Storm received a retrial after it was discovered that one of the jurors lied about being involved in other personal injury cases at the time of the medical malpractice case. While Storm is arguing that the doctor absolutely should have sent in the mole for testing, especially after it had grown back, a medical expert for the defense argued that you can’t send in every mole you receive for testing and that Zimmerman was acting reasonably. The defense also argued that it was not clear whether the melanoma that Storm died up was originally at the site of the mole that was removed.

Even the defense’s medical expert, however, admitted that Storm’s mole did exhibit signs of cancer – though he still argued that Zimmerman’s choice not to test the mole wasn’t negligent.

Storm is suing for $50,000 per medical malpractice count in addition to other damages. In the first trial, which took place two years ago, he lost the case but won an appeal.

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