Radiologist Missed Palpable Breast Mass at Naval Hospital, Leaving Patient With Terminal Cancer Diagnosis

In September 2021, a 55-year-old patient presented at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth reporting a painful, palpable lump in her left breast. The following month, radiologists at the military facility performed a bilateral diagnostic mammogram and left breast ultrasound, then documented the results as normal and recommended no further follow-up.

The mass was not normal. Nearly a year later, during the summer of 2022, repeat imaging flagged findings that were, in the words of subsequent reviewers, highly concerning for malignancy. A biopsy performed the same day confirmed what the 2021 films had missed: malignant left breast invasive ductal carcinoma with extensive metastatic involvement. The cancer had spread to lymph nodes, the sternum, and the spine.

A retrospective review of the October 2021 mammogram and ultrasound found the abnormal mass was visible in those original images. The radiologist who interpreted them had simply not identified it. Because the diagnosis came so late, the window for curative treatment had closed. The patient's prognosis became terminal, and her remaining treatment options were aimed at managing a disease that could no longer be fully treated.

Howard Bullock, Edward McNelis, and Harrison Long of Emroch and Kilduff in Richmond filed suit in the Eastern District of Virginia under the Federal Tort Claims Act, naming the United States as defendant (case no. 2:24-cv-281). The theory was straightforward: the radiologist fell below the applicable standard of care by failing to identify a mass that was present and identifiable on the imaging study, and that failure directly caused the cancer to metastasize to a terminal stage.

The case settled on January 28, 2025, for $1 million. Virginia Lawyers Weekly reported the resolution in April 2025.