$1,200,000 Settlement for Failure to Timely Diagnose Addison’s Disease

Carol Forte represented a child’s estate and his family in this case involving the death of a 12-year-old boy. The boy’s pediatrician admitted at deposition that he was entirely responsible for missing an abnormal lab test that should have led to a diagnosis of Addison’s Disease, a treatable endocrine condition. The child had been brought to the doctor on numerous occasions, with his mother pointing out that his skin had taken on a dark color. The doctor attributed this darkening of the skin to tanning. A blood test was ordered to test for Addison’s Disease, and the result was abnormally low. The doctor told the parents however, that the test was normal and that their son definitely did not have this condition, (which was also the condition that President John F. Kennedy had, and was successfully treated for). Months after the doctor’s error, the parents found their son unresponsive in his bed one morning, and he died. An autopsy confirmed that the boy had Addison’s Disease.