Stroud v. Golson

In March of 1994, Gloria Stroud underwent a CT scan to determine whether she had lung cancer. Dr. Bruce Golson (defendant) interpreted the findings of the scan and opined that Stroud did not have lung cancer. In April of 1995, Stroud was hospitalized for a cerebral hemorrhage. Stroud underwent X-rays and CT scans during her hospital stay, and those tests revealed that Stroud had inoperable cancer in her left lung. Stroud decided not to receive treatment for the cancer and died a few months later. Stroud’s husband and sons (plaintiffs) sued Golson and Golson’s insurance company based on Golson’s failure to diagnose Stroud’s cancer. The parties settled the claims, but the Strouds reserved their right to seek excess damages from the Louisiana Patients’ Compensation Fund (PCF) (defendant). The PCF argued that although Golson had been negligent, Stroud would have died from the lung cancer even if Golson had properly diagnosed the cancer in 1994. During a jury trial against the PCF, the trial court allowed Stroud’s husband to testify about why Stroud declined treatment after she learned about her cancer in 1995. Over the PCF’s objection, Stroud’s husband testified that when he and Stroud discussed the cancer treatment, Stroud said that she felt like the cancer was too advanced for the treatment to be effective. Stroud had also seen the severe effects of chemotherapy when her sister-in-law passed away from lung cancer the previous year, and Stroud said that she wanted to avoid the pain and discomfort of the cancer treatment during her remaining days. The jury found in favor of the Strouds and awarded damages. The PCF appealed to the Louisiana Court of Appeal.