After listening to the arguments presented by Higgins, the jury came to the conclusion that doctors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute failed to properly investigate the infection and awarded the 40-year-old woman's family $13.5 million in damages.
"I think that, as in any malpractice case, the key is trying to give a story to a jury that they can understand," says Higgins.The woman originally came to Dana-Farber to be treated for Ewing's Sarcoma, a type of cancer that affects bones and soft-tissues. Following treatment, the mother of two developed chronic diarrhea. "She was compromised from undergoing chemotherapy and her immune system was down," says Higgins. "The average bacteria that you or I would get, the body would fight off, but she was so compromised that she couldn't fight it."
According, to Higgins, the doctors assumed that the diarrhea was a side effect of the cancer treatment. "It was like they convinced themselves, without doing any tests, that it wasn't an infection. They thought 'oh it is probably something else'; instead of saying lets make sure it is not infection. They just jumped to conclusions."
Her condition worsened and eventually the woman developed a more deadly bacterial infection, commonly referred to as Flesh Eating Disease. "What the doctors didn't do was treat the infection. So it continued to go on and they basically let a very fertile condition continue and other bacteria developed until she ultimately she developed this really bad flesh eating bacteria," says Higgins.
Higgins argued that the doctors at Dana-Farber focused too much on the cancer therapy and failed to consider the entire picture. "You had two doctors who are responsible to care for the whole patient, not just the chemotherapy. It is not just the cancer they are responsible for, they are responsible for the whole patient," says Higgins.
Sadly, the woman's autopsy showed that her cancer had been cured. "They thought, her stomach was just upset from getting chemotherapy," says Higgins. "If they just did the basic test stuff she would have been saved."
Attorney Higgins specializes in personal injury cases, including medical malpractice, product liability and general negligence. He won an unprecedented $40 million dollar verdict after a doctor failed to deliver a baby in fetal distress. It stands as the largest ever personal injury verdict from a jury in Massachusetts.
Robert Higgins graduated from the University of Maine in 1991 and Suffolk University Law School in 1994. Higgins has worked as an attorney for Lubin & Meyer since 1994. In 2008, Higgins was named as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2006 and 2007 and has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America list in 2008.