Verdicts & Settlements
$3 Million Awarded to Woman Misdiagnosed with Cancer
Michelle Kachurak was treated with chemo for disease she didn't have.
DAVID WEISS dweiss@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE - A Luzerne County jury Monday evening awarded Michelle Kachurak $3 million for having to undergo 12 rounds of chemotherapy because of a misdiagnosis.
The jury deliberated for nearly eight hours before awarding the Plymouth woman damages from doctors Karen Cooper of Forty Fort and Gazi Abdulhay of the Lehigh Valley.
Kachurak, through attorneys Matthew A. Cartwright and Sam Sanguedolce, filed suit against the doctors after learning they wrongly diagnosed her with cancer.
The suit made it to trial in April in Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.
The jury heard more than two weeks of testimony before determining the doctors were negligent in their care of her. The jury found each doctor 50 percent negligent.
At trial, Cartwright told the jury Kachurak's medical problems started in September 2000 when she noticed some vaginal bleeding. Kachurak, then 30, underwent a blood test that showed positive for levels of a hormone called hCG.
The results indicated she was either pregnant, had a disease that causes cancer or received a "false positive" test result, Cartwright said. An ultrasound showed Kachurak was not pregnant, her attorney said.
Cooper started Kachurak on chemotherapy, Cartwright said. But the doctors missed red flags that should have made them look further at the problem and consider the hCG test gave a false positive result, Cartwright said.
The doctors also failed to do any research, the suit alleged, but Kachurak discovered a urine test for hCG could give a clearer look at whether she had cancer. Kachurak took a urine test and got a negative result, but Abdulhay reported the test came back positive, the lawyer said, and Kachurak's chemotherapy continued until she took another urine test.
The doctors ended up suing the lab that made the test kit. The claims against the lab were withdrawn after a few days of testimony. Cartwright said he reached a settlement with the lab but could not discuss details of it because it is confidential.
The verdict left Cartwright and Kachurak satisfied.
Kachurak said she had two motivations in the case: "One was to prove the doctors were wrong and the other was to protect other women from having the same thing happen to them."
Cartwright said he expects the verdict to be increased to about $4 million because of delay damages, which are sought when defendants refuse to accept an earlier settlement in the case.
Attorneys for the doctors could not be reached Monday evening.
