Court Decision: Peterson v. Jhamb, 2011 ME 35
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The Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting at the Law Court, issued an opinion today, March 22, 2011, by Justice Jabar in Peterson v. Jhamb, 2011 ME 35. In this medical malpractice action for failure to diagnose recurrent breast cancer which had metastasized to the Plainitff's bones, the Court upheld the jury's verdict of more than $1.1M. The action was brought against Plaintiff's, Donna Seabury-Peterson, primary care doctor Kristin Jhamb, M.D. and Mid Coast Medical Group. Mr. Peterson also brought a claim for loss of consortium (companionship) of his wife.
Plaintiff, who had a prior history of breast cancer, started seeing Dr. Jhamb in December, 2004. Over the next three years, she reported pain in her hip, neck, chest, back, and sternum. Dr. Jhamb's records were often incomplete and did not document follow-up from prior visits. She never ordered further testing.
In November, 2007, Plaintiff's employer's health care provider ordered an MRI which revealed stage four cancer of all the areas where Plaintiff had been experiencing pain.
The jury's verdict, which was reduced by the Superior Court judge for an excessive award for medical expenses, was upheld by the Law Court. Justice Jabar rejected the Defendants' arguments for a new trial, finding that the verdict was supported by the evidence and the Plaintiffs' comments at trial that no one would want to trade places with Donna were not so prejudicial as to require a mistrial.
Peterson v. Jhamb, 2011 ME 35 Judgment:
www.mainepersonalinjurylaw.com/uploads/file/peterson v jhamb.pdf
