HUNTINGTON – A South Carolina couple is suing Cabell Huntington Hospital after they claim it breached its duty of care.
Radiology Inc.; and Drs. Richard J. Compton and Mark Jason Akers were also named as defendants in the suit.
On Nov. 27, 2012, Akers failed to properly perform an ultrasound of Teria Keathley, which was ordered as a result of a new 7MM nodular density in the superior left breast shown on screening mammography that was on Nov. 5, 2012 and was reported as a BIRADS #0 and needed additional imaging, according to a complaint filed in Cabell Circuit Court.
Keathley and her husband, Kermit R. Keathley, claim Akers failed to properly and timely investigate the findings shown on the mammography and ultrasound testing, which warranted a biopsy and failed to consider the findings and to formulate an appropriate plan and diagnostic work-up.
The plaintiffs did not discover Akers’ negligence until July 2014, when Teria Keathley underwent subsequent breast imaging study and biopsies in South Carolina, which showed an abnormality in the same location previously documented that was highly suspicious for malignancy and which the biopsy confirmed the presence of breast cancer that had metastasized to her lymph node.
The Keathleys claim on Nov. 12, 2013, Compton failed to properly interpret results from her Nov. 11, 2013, mammography and that Radiology breached the applicable standard of care through Akers and Compton.
Cabell breached its applicable standard of care by and through its employees and agents whose conduct was negligent and deviated from the accepted level of care expected from a reasonable prudent healthcare provider, according to the suit.
The Keathleys are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. They are being represented by Marvin W. Masters and Kelly Elswick-Hall of The Masters Law Firm LC.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge F. Jane Hustead.
Cabell Circuit Court case number: 16-C-434
