2016Estate of Gerald Teeuwen, deceased v. Drs. Birk and Lowden-Chesapeake Circuit Court (2016)
Gerald Teeuwen was a 77-year-old bicycle racer who never smoked. However, he had a persistent cough when he presented to Patient First on January 3, 2013, and a chest X-ray was read as abnormal. He was referred to Dr. Birk, a pulmonary physician for evaluation. Mr. Teeuwen carried his abnormal film with him to Dr. Birk, but Dr. Birk never looked at it and ordered a subsequent film. Dr. Birk never looked at the film until the trial. Birk sent Mr. Teeuwen for a second chest X-ray to Dr. Lowden, a radiologist who is not board certified. Lowden never looked at the first film. The second film was read by Dr. Lowden who felt that the study was normal.
These two physicians were sued for failure to properly interpret the X-ray and failure to refer Teeuwen for a CT scan of his chest. Birk was sued for his admitted failure to review the first abnormal study and for his failure to provide his study to Lowden for comparison. By the time Teeuwen had a proper study and CT scan done a year later, his small cancer mass had advanced to a stage IV cancer. Damages included loss of wages which totaled over $400,000.00. His life expectancy was 8 years and 4 months. A jury returned a verdict against Birk and Lowden for $1,125,000.00 plus $176,646.00 in medical expenses with interest from February 2, 2014-the date of actual delayed diagnosis. The verdict stands at $1,505,772.68 and the defendant satisfied the judgment. Of note, the jury requested the plaintiff attorney’s X-ray viewbox during deliberations so it is more than likely that the jury panel saw the abnormality in the initial X-ray. Upon cross-examination at trial Lowden confirmed that he never knew of the abnormality and also never inquired if any comparison studies existed before he misread his second X-ray. Plaintiff’s experts testified that if a CT scan had been ordered it would have been diagnosed a stage I cancer and prompted surgical rescission, which carried a 75% chance of cure. By the time of diagnosis in 2014 it was too late for salvage, because Teeuwen’s cancer had metastasized to the brain and bone and he lost his chance of cure and survival in 2013. Carlton Bennett tried the case along with Judith Cofield, Esq. in Virginia Beach.