Radiologist not guilty of failing to diagnose a lunate fracture
John Langhenry and Melissa Gordon successfully defended a radiologist who interpreted x-ray films as negative for fracture after the plaintiff fell from a ladder. Approximately 6 months later, the plaintiff was diagnosed with a lunate fracture. The plaintiff argued that the radiologist failed to properly interpret the x-ray films, thereby failing to diagnose the lunate fracture. As a result, the plaintiff asserted that he had to undergo more significant surgery and months of painful and unnecessary physical therapy. The defense argued that the fracture was not diagnosable on the x-rays, and that approximately 20% of these injuries are missed on plain films. The defense also argued that, based upon the nature of the injury, the surgery would have been the same, regardless of when it was diagnosed.