Woman Was Allegedly Told Her Mammogram Was Clear. 8 Months Later, She Learns She Has Terminal Breast Cancer: Complaint

Deborah Higgs was awarded $7 million settlement after filing a medical malpractice lawsuit

NEED TO KNOW

• Deborah Higgs was awarded $7 million after she claimed there was an eight-month delay in her stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis
• An attorney representing her radiologist, Dr. Henry Lusane, tells PEOPLE the settlement was a “compromise of a disputed claim and not an admission of fault”
• The settlement includes policy changes at Baptist Health Care and Acumen Medical Imaging to prevent future misdiagnoses

A Florida woman who claims she was told her mammogram was clear has been awarded a $7 million settlement after she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer eight months later.

Deborah Higgs — from Pensacola, Florida — previously dealt with calcifications, which are typically benign calcium deposits that develop in the breast tissue and may be a sign of breast cancer. From that point, she has always stayed on top of her regular checkups. 

“That made me hyper-alert to my breast care,” she told Pensacola News Journal.

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So, in February 2022, when Higgs felt a lump on her breast, she immediately sought medical attention at Baptist Medical Park in Pensacola. Following a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, radiologist Dr. Henry Lusane allegedly told her that her scans indicated “that nothing was wrong,” according to court documents obtained by the outlet. 

She also claims she reportedly received a letter from Baptist informing her that her “results were normal.”

However, by October 2022, Higgs’ lump had grown and become painful. After returning to Baptist, she claims Lusane reviewed her scans again, this time noting that the imaging showed a “high suspicion” of cancer, PNJ reports. 

Shortly after, Higgs was diagnosed with a terminal case of stage 4 breast cancer. 

“I was in complete disbelief. I guess you could call it denial,” she recalled. “I had been very conscious of my breast health. I was just shocked. It didn’t make sense to me. And I was actually quite angry to hear that. It felt wrong.”

In December 2023, Higgs filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Baptist Health Care and Acumen Medical Imaging and Interventional, the independent physician group that Lusane works for.

“There was an eight-month delay in her treatment for cancer,” Higgs’ attorney, Jonathan Freidin, claimed to the outlet. 

On June 5, after years of back-and-forth legal proceedings determining who bore responsibility, both Baptist Health Care and Acumen Medical Imaging and Interventional settled their cases. Higgs was awarded $5 million to be paid by Baptist and $2 million to be paid by Acumen.

Baptist Health Care and Acumen Medical Imaging and Interventional did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. 

“After years of ongoing dispute, all parties have agreed to a mutually acceptable resolution to avoid the distraction and expense of continued litigation,” Baptist said in a statement to PNJ. “The agreement does not represent an admission of guilt or liability. Our commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality care has been, and continues to be, at the heart of everything we do.”

Additionally, Lusane has been fined $6,500 by the Florida Board of Medicine and ordered to complete five hours of continuing medical education (CME) courses on breast imaging interpretation.

Lusane’s attorney, E. Victoria Penny, provided a statement to PEOPLE on his behalf prior to publication.

“We were not afforded the opportunity to review the article prior to its publication to address any inaccuracies that may be contained in the article. Moreover, privacy laws prohibit us as healthcare providers from commenting on a patient’s private health information, which limits our ability to fully defend the statements made in the article,” the statement said. “The settlement was a compromise of a disputed claim and not an admission of fault, and plaintiffs acknowledged that in the terms of the settlement. The allegations remain allegations.” 

Additionally, Penny’s statement said that Lusane’s agreement to the fine and CME courses does “not admit fault” and simply “brought finality to the matter” and allowed him to focus on practicing medicine.

As part of the settlement, both Baptist and Acumen also agreed to make policy changes to ensure no similar situations occur in the future. 

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Baptist said it will provide documents that state that patients should follow up with a provider even if they receive results that appear normal. Acumen’s policy will allow patients to request an audience while meeting with a radiologist to determine whether a lump is cancerous or benign.

“[Higgs] was never told the lump on her breast was still a concern, and she should take the next steps,” Freidin told the newspaper. “Now they’re going to have to say, ‘Even though you got a normal read, it shouldn’t end the discussion.’”

He added that the case “brings attention to the human cost of cancer misdiagnosis and the importance of medical systems to respond timely and accurately to diagnostic imaging.”

Higgs added that she hopes her case sends an important message to other women.

“I think we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish,” she told the outlet. “That hope of other women having a say in their health care was just so important. That was the victory for me.”

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