The family of a Guelph man who died in 2022 has filed a $4 million lawsuit against a variety of medical professionals, as well as Guelph General Hospital, accusing them of failing to diagnose and treat the cancer that ultimately killed him.
It’s alleged that, “as a result of the defendants’ failures to appropriately investigate and treat his signs, symptoms, and complaints, the (deceased) developed advanced metastatic cancer and died, all of which was caused or materially contributed to by the negligence of the defendants.”
The lawsuit names GGH, Grand River Hospital (GRH) and 19 medical professionals as defendants, including the deceased man’s three family doctors.
At the time of his death, the man was 59.
Spokespeople for GGH and GRH declined to comment as the matter is before the courts, and no statements of defence have been filed in the case at this point.
As explained in lawsuit documents, the situation began in the summer of 2011 when the Guelph man reported experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath, prompting a variety of diagnostic tests conducted at the two hospitals – GRH in June and GGH in July.
Pneumonia was pegged as the likely source of the man’s symptoms.
The man continued to experience a variety of “concerning signs and symptoms” into 2021, the lawsuit notes, with numerous chest X-rays and other tests done along the way without samples being taken for biopsy.
As a result of “unexplained severe headache and visual loss” in May of 2022, the man underwent a brain MRI which showed a “small irregular area of right cerebellar infarct.”
Two days later he was admitted to GGH for worsening dyspnea, abdominal pain, and painful subcutaneous and intramuscular nodules.
On June 3 of that year, the man underwent abdominal and pelvic diagnostic testing which was “reported as showing features consistent with metastatic lesions.”
Metastatic carcinoma was confirmed on June 14, the lawsuit states.
A little more than a week later, the man died of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
