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Jury awards $5.7 million to Portland woman dying from cancer 11/25/2006, 5:13 a.m. PT The Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Multnomah County jury awarded $5.7 million to a woman dying of breast cancer because a radiologist incorrectly evaluated her mammogram. The jury, at the end of a two-week trial, found that The Oregon Clinic harmed Julie Joel by its negligence, awarding her $754,052 in economic damages and $5 million for pain and suffering. It was unclear Friday whether The Oregon Clinic would appeal. Joel, 58, of Portland went to the Providence Professional Plaza in 2002, where a radiologist with The Oregon Clinic misread the breast X-ray and found no abnormalities, according to her lawyer, Elden Rosenthal. Joel went to a different clinic in 2004 and was told she had advanced breast cancer. "In our system, when a mistake is made that causes tragic consequences, the person injured is entitled to fair compensation," Rosenthal said Friday. "And the jury passed a fair verdict in this case." Joel, who sat through portions of the trial, said experts called on her behalf said the results of the breast X-ray merited another look, while those called by The Oregon Clinic said the exam showed no abnormalities. The mother of four said she did not sit through testimony in which the gruesome nature of her eventual death was described. "It was almost anticlimactic," Joel said of the verdict. "You never want to have to be in that position. ... It's kind of bittersweet, if you know what I mean. I don't know how long I have to live." Some hospitals ask two radiologists to read mammograms, but Joel said in her case only one doctor signed off on the results. Joel said she hoped her lawsuit would lead hospitals to require a second opinion. The doctor who read the 2002 breast exam testified at the trial but was not named in the suit.
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