The Beasley Firm wins $3.5 Million Jury Award
In the spotlight
The Legal Intelligencer
May 28, 2004
A Philadelphia jury took 26 minutes to decide to award $3.5 million to a Yardley man and his wife in a case that involved an allegedly delayed diagnosis of bone cancer near his left knee.
In Tindall v. Friedmann, plaintiff Jeffrey Tindall, 35, had sued family doctor Brad Friedmann, radiologist Mark Schweitzer and Jefferson Imaging, the MRI center at which Tindall had been treated.
He also said that his partner, James Beasley Jr., prepared the case for trial but was handling another case when Tindall went to trial.
According to court papers, Tindall consulted Friedmann in April 1997 after hurting his left knee in a fall while working in his yard. An X-ray showed no fracture but did show a bone mass on Tindall's left femur, and an MRI was recommended.
Tindall underwent an MRI at Jefferson Imaging, and the results were examined by Schweitzer, according to court papers. Schweitzer concluded that the MRI results were consistent with trauma from injury and did not raise the possibility of a cancerous growth in his report.
Over the next two years, court papers state, Tindall sought treatment with Friedmann for a variety of ailments, but his complaints about pain in his left knee increased over time. He was referred to an orthopedic surgeon, who found that the bone mass had increased in size.
By August 1999, according to court papers, Tindall was diagnosed with a bone tumor. His left knee was subsequently replaced, and he underwent chemotherapy. He has been cancer-free for approximately five years.
The case was tried before Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Alfred J. DiBona Jr.
In response to Tindall's claims of malpractice, the physician defendants claimed in their pretrial memoranda that they had acted appropriately in treating Tindall.
Tindall had also claimed that his chemotherapy treatments resulted in sterility, according to court papers, but the defendants countered that Tindall had exhibited a low sperm count prior to being treated for his tumor.
Tindall's experts included James Norconk, a radiologist from Vero Beach, Fla., and John Nemec, a family doctor from New Stanton.
Friedmann was represented by Paul Bechtel Jr. of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin in Philadelphia. Bechtel said that he found it "surprising" that the jury deliberated for just 26 minutes after a trial that lasted roughly one week.
"We intend to file post-trial motions for relief," Bechtel said.
Jefferson Imaging's attorney, Charles Roessing of White & Williams in Paoli, said that his client would also be seeking post-trial relief.
Schweitzer's attorney was Alan Focht of O'Brien & Ryan in Plymouth Meeting. He did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
