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Jury awards millions to cancer victim
Saturday, May 20, 2000 By Mike Rosenwald, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
In 1992, when he turned 50 years old, Robert Rank's insurance policy stipulated that his doctor offer him screening for colorectal cancer.
The offer never came. Three years later Rank was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which by then had spread to his liver and lymph nodes. His prognosis was and still is poor.
And yesterday, in a development that could only be described as bittersweet, a jury determined the doctor was guilty of negligence and awarded $3.625 million to Rank and another $1.65 million for loss of consortium to his wife, Roberta.
Because the defendants never offered to settle the case, under state law they also face delay damages that could total more than $1 million, said Rank's attorney, Neil Rosen.
"I think this verdict shows the importance of getting colorectal screening," Roberta Rank said. "This cancer can be cured if caught early."
She said her husband, who declined to speak to a reporter, echoed her statement. The couple, who formerly lived in South Park, now reside in Tampa, Fla.
"I think the jury was sending a message to the health care community that cancer screening is a very significant issue in our society," Rosen said.
He also said the jury was sending a message to health care providers that "if you are recommending screening, you better make sure patients get it."
Rank was working for U.S. Steel in 1988 when, at the age of 46, he became a member of HealthAmerica, a health care provider.
According to Rosen, the HealthAmerica policy required that a patient be offered a colorectal screening at the age of 50.
The incidence of colorectal cancer rises in men ages 50 and above. There are different ways to screen for the cancer, one of which is examination by sigmoidoscope.
Rank never got the screening offer, Rosen said.
Ganti, a family physician, was Rank's primary care doctor with the Penn Group. His practice in West Mifflin contracted with HealthAmerica to be primary care physicians for their members.
Rosen said that Rank, now 58, developed an "episode of bleeding" in 1994 and still wasn't evaluated by his physician for the cancer.
He was finally diagnosed with the cancer during a screening that U.S. Steel offered to its employees.
Rosen said Rank's prognosis was poor and that it was only "a matter of time" before the cancers caused his death.
Ganti's attorney could not be reached last night.
Deborah Olszweski, attorney for HealthAmerica, a co-defendant in the case, noted that the jury found that HealthAmerica was not guilty of negligence and that the jury found that Ganti was 100 percent negligent.
She said that HealthAmerica was "vicariously liable" since Ganti was employed with the Penn Group, which contracted with HealthAmerica.
Rosen said the most unfortunate aspect of the case was the lesson it left behind. A colorectal cancer expert from Indianapolis testified that Rank's cancer could have been detected and successfully treated if he had been screened when he turned 50.
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