Opinion ID: 2206288
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Second Action

Text: While the appeal was pending in Patton I, Mr. Patton filed the complaint in this case ( Patton II ) naming as a defendant Dr. Klein. [5] In the complaint, Mr. Patton alleged that Mrs. Onder discovered a lump in the upper, outer quadrant of her right breast in early May 1988 and consulted her gynecologist, Dr. Koch. Dr. Koch felt the suspicious mass, instructed her to have a mammogram, and referred Mrs. Onder to Dr. Gutierrez. Mrs. Onder promptly scheduled the mammogram at Washington Radiology, where Dr. Klein, examined the mass, took the mammogram and sonogram, and interpreted them. Dr. Klein informed Mrs. Onder, and reported to Drs. Koch and Gutierrez, that he saw no indication of cancer in the mammogram or sonogram. Based, in part on Dr. Klein's negative findings from the x-ray and sonogram, both Dr. Gutierrez and Dr. Koch continued to reassure Mrs. Onder that she did not have cancer. The complaint alleged that Dr. Klein's revelations during the trial of Patton I reflect that he negligently failed to reveal to Dr. Koch that he was not examining the suspicious lump in the upper outer quadrant of Mrs. Onder's chest which Dr. Koch had felt. According to the complaint, Dr. Klein's negligence in this regard, along with the negligence of the other physicians, contributed to the delayed diagnosis of Mrs. Onder's cancer which resulted in her premature death.