BOSTON (AP) -- A jury has awarded $16.7 million to the daughter of a Boston woman who died of lung cancer after a radiologist missed evidence of the cancer in a chest X-ray.
Lawyers say the verdict this month against Dr. Peter Clarke of Brigham and Women's Hospital is the largest this year in a Massachusetts medical malpractice case.
Johnette Ellis sued on behalf of her mother, Jeanne Ellis, who died in August 2008 at the age of 47, about two years after a chest X-ray was read as normal. The cancer was not detected until 13 months later.
Clarke's lawyer tells The Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/1q9qbS6 ) his client's interpretation of the X-ray was appropriate and he will ask for a new trial.
The hospital said Clarke "acted in accordance with the diagnostic standards of care."
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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com