$25 Million Verdict for Teen's Leukemia Misdiagnosis: Maine's Largest Medical Malpractice Award

In late July 2021, a 15-year-old girl arrived at Mid Coast Medical Group's clinic presenting with swollen, sore breasts, prominent veins across her chest, and respiratory distress. She had been diagnosed with pneumonia and prescribed prednisone just days before. The gynecologist who examined her concluded she had gynecomastia, a condition characterized by enlarged breast tissue that ordinarily affects men. No X-ray was ordered. No vital signs were checked. Medical records sent by fax before the appointment never reached the treating physician, and no medical literature was consulted.

The underlying condition was acute pediatric leukemia. She died five days after that appointment, on August 1, 2021. She was 15 years old.

Her mother, Lyndsey Sutherland, filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against Mid Coast Medical Group. At trial in Cumberland County Superior Court, attorneys Meryl Poulin and Benjamin Gideon of Gideon Asen LLC argued that a basic X-ray would have revealed the cancer and given the teenager a meaningful chance of survival. Expert testimony supported that conclusion. Poulin described the failure as running through a stop sign in an examination room.

The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before returning a verdict of $25 million on October 30, 2025. The award included $15 million for the teenager's conscious pain and suffering and $10 million to Lyndsey Sutherland for loss of companionship. It is the largest medical malpractice verdict in Maine history.

Mid Coast Medical Group moved for a new trial and asked the court to reduce the award. In March 2026, Justice Michael Duddy denied both requests, writing that the verdict had "ample competent evidence" in the record and bore a rational relationship to the evidence presented. Both parties have since filed notices of appeal to Maine's highest court. Sutherland's attorneys plan to challenge Maine's $750,000 statutory cap on certain wrongful death damages, which limits how much of the $25 million judgment she can actually collect.