Verdicchio v. Ricca

Beginning in May 1993, 17-year-old Stephen Verdicchio visited his primary-care physician, Dr. Anthony Ricca (defendant), multiple times over the course of 13 months with complaints of bowel problems, lethargy, and pain in his left leg. In January 1994, Stephen saw Ricca again, having lost 17 pounds in five months and complaining of the same symptoms, including leg pain. Although Ricca was responsive to Stephen’s gastroenterological complaints, which persisted, Ricca did not examine Stephen’s leg, dismissing his pain because he ran track. Even when Stephen returned in May 1994 after having collapsed while participating in a track meet, Ricca noted that Stephen’s left leg was tender and had muscle edema, but he did not X-ray the leg. By July 1994, Stephen returned to Ricca in great pain, and his left leg was swollen, firm, and felt abnormal. Stephen’s mother, Kathleen Verdicchio (plaintiff), insisted that Ricca provide a referral to an orthopedist. The orthopedist ordered a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which showed that Stephen had a mass in his leg. Further tests and scans showed that Stephen had a cancerous tumor in his left leg, and the cancer had already spread to his lungs and his abdomen. Stephen began receiving treatment for metastatic cancer at that point, but by May 1995, he died. Kathleen and Stephen’s father, Vincent Verdicchio (plaintiff), sued Ricca for wrongful death. A jury ruled in the Verdicchios’ favor, determining that Ricca was negligent in treating Stephen, which increased Stephen’s risk of a terrible result, and this elevated risk was a substantial factor in causing the harm Stephen suffered. However, the trial judge granted Ricca’s motion to set aside the jury’s verdict, and an appellate court affirmed because the Verdicchios had not shown that Stephen’s cancer had not metastasized in January 1994, when Ricca allegedly deviated from the standard of care and failed to examine Stephen’s leg and diagnose his disease. However, it was also acknowledged that there was no way to know when the cancer metastasized to Stephen’s lungs, but Stephen’s tumor likely developed in fall 1993. If Stephen’s cancer had not metastasized as of January 1994, with treatment, there was an 85 percent chance of survival at five years. If the cancer had already spread by May 1994, with diagnosis and treatment at that time, Stephen had a 20-30 percent chance of being alive five years later.