Dr. Karen Cooper and Dr. Gazi Abdulhay

Wilkes-Barre, PA: (May-01-07) Michelle Kachurak filed suit against Dr.'s Karen Cooper of Forty Fort and Gazi Abdulhay of the Lehigh Valley, after she had to undergo 12 rounds of chemotherapy because of a misdiagnosis. The suit claimed that the doctors were negligent in their care, having wrongly diagnosed Kachurak with cancer. Kachurak's medical problems started in September 2000 when she noticed some vaginal bleeding. Kachurak, then 30, underwent a blood test that showed positive for levels of a hormone called hCG. An ultrasound showed Kachurak was not pregnant, and Cooper started Kachurak on chemotherapy, without any further investigations. The doctors also failed to do any research, until Kachurak discovered a urine test for hCG could give a clearer look at whether she had cancer. Kachurak took a urine test and got a negative result, but Abdulhay reported the test came back positive, and Kachurak's chemotherapy continued until she took another urine test. The jury found each doctor 50 percent negligent and agreed to award Michelle Kachurak $3 million, ending the medical malpractice suit. [TIMES LEADER: CANCER MISDIAGNOSIS]

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Published on May-3-07