Indiana Accident News

South Bend cancer patient wins $8.1 million malpractice suit

According to the South Bend Tribune, Renne Flora has been awarded $8.1 million in a malpractice suit involving a missed cancer diagnosis by a local podiatrist.

In the spring of 2004, Flora had a growth from her big tow removed by Dr. W. Douglas Kolmodin, The event seemed hardly worth mention, and the Renee and her husband Eric soon moved on with their lives in New Carlisle, Indiana.

However, a year later the growth returned and a second opinion found that Flora had malignant melanoma. By the time of this development, she was in stage three of the cancer and has just a 17 percent chance of living another 12 years, according to National Cancer Institute statistics. Flora, a nurse's aide and mother of two young daughters, is just 33 years old.

The medical malpractice trial that followed in a St. Joseph Superior Court lasted five days and ended in a decision for the cancer victim. Neither the Floras, Kolmodin, or Kolmodin's attorneys commented on the outcome of the case.

The evidence in the failure to diagnose the cancer was strong. Both of the Floras testified in court that the removed growth was put in a container for testing. However, the doctor's office moved the very next day to a new location and the sample was lost, according to the Floras' attorney.

The doctor told a different story, in which the tissue disintegrated before testing could take place. Thee other podiatrists working for the Indiana Department of Insurance testified that this was unlikely. It also came to light during the trial that a local boy's baseball team helped the doctor with the move instead of hired professionals.

Kolmodin's former practice is Northern Indiana Foot & Ankle, while his present practice is South Bend Clinic.

There is some question as to whether the Floras will recover the full damages awarded to them. Northern Indiana Foot & Ankle did not participate in the state program that caps malpractice damages past $1.25 million. However, Kolodin will be shielded by Indiana's $250,000 damages cap when it comes to individual doctors being sued.

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