South Carolina Woman Can Sue Doctors for Missed Cancer Diagnosis

A South Carolina woman can move forward on claims against two physicians who failed to diagnose her rare blood cancer, even though their first misdiagnoses took place more than six years before she sued.

The state’s statute of repose, which prohibits medical liability claims filed more than six years after the alleged negligence occurred, didn’t bar Virginia Marshall’s suit against physicians Kenneth Dodds and Georgia Roane, the South Carolina Supreme Court said March 27.

Marshall went to Dodds in 1999 for treatment of a persistent high fever. A test taken at that time showed she had elevated protein levels in ...