In July 2019, Steven Delavern, then 31-years-old, went to Health Services, a family practice, with complaints of rectal pain and bleeding along with other bowel issues…medicalmalpracticelawyers.com
He was seen by PA Karla Lynn Wilson, a physicians’ assistant who was supervised by Dr. Nicole Carroll. PA Wilson diagnosed Mr. Delavern with internal hemorrhoids and prescribed suppositories.
Mr. Delavern returned to the practice in February 2020, at which time PA Wilson provided him with more steroids and additional recommendations for treating his then-worsened symptoms.
Mr. Delavern saw PA Wilson a third time in July 2020, reporting increased pain, and was referred to general surgery for evaluation and possible hemorrhoidectomy. A colonoscopy procedure the following month revealed that Mr. Delavern had stage four rectal cancer that had metastasized to his lungs.
The Delaverns filed their Pennsylvania medical malpractice complaint in which they alleged that the failure of Dr. Carroll or PA Wilson to diagnose Mr. Delavern’s rectal cancer, and the resultant thirteen-month delay in treatment, caused him to suffer life-threatening injuries that could have been avoided.
The Pennsylvania medical malpractice jury found Dr. Carroll, PA Wilson, and Health Services all negligent, that their negligence harmed the Delaverns, and that their respective percentages of causal negligence were thirty, twenty, and fifty percent. The jury awarded a total of $6,970,783 in economic and noneconomic damages, including $2,000,000 to Ms. Delavern for loss of consortium. The trial court granted the Delaverns’ request for delay damages. The Delaverns filed a praecipe to enter judgment in the amount of $7,291,398.51, resulting in the entry of judgment in that amount on June 27, 2024.