Kaiser's Delayed Diagnosis Allowed Cancer to Spread, Woman Says
5-10-2013 18:02:00


     LOS ANGELES (CN) - A woman had symptoms “consistent with a potential diagnosis of pancreatic cancer but no testing or treatment was undertaken,” for years prior to her eventual diagnosis, she claims in a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
     By the time the cancer was discovered, it had spread to other parts of her body, according to the complaint.
     The complaint says that in August 2011, a Kaiser doctor, Hong Phuc Pham, M.D. performed an MRI on Nebiat Seyoum to rule out a liver mass. “Dr. Pham negligently determined that there was no evidence of cancer in the pancreas,” at that time, the complaint says.
     However, cancer was ultimately discovered after it had been “allowed to grow and spread to other parts of the body, depriving plaintiff of earlier treatments and the potential for cure. Further, these defendants, and each of them, have been negligent and careless with regard to her management for her pancreatic cancer which has caused additional damage both from a physical and emotional standpoint,” the complaint says.
     Nebiat Seyoum and her husband Anghesom Seyoum are represented by Marshall Silberberg of Irvine, Calif. BC506240