Maine Hospital Being Sued For Allegedly Missing Cancer Diagnosis That Led to Death of Business Owner

Healthcare is one of the biggest industries and employers in the State of Maine. Most of us either work in a healthcare-related field, or at the very least, we know someone who does. And now, one of the State's healthcare organizations is being sued by an area family.

According to an article published by WABI, the family of Bangor business owner, Eliza Butler, is suing St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor after they allegedly missed a cancer diagnosis for several years in a row.

The news station is reporting that Butler had made several visits to St. Joseph's from December of 2017 through June of 2021. Butler had reportedly complained of ongoing symptoms that included some vision problems as well as left arm and back pain.

The lawsuit, filed by Butler's family, alleges that back in December of 2017, Eliza's doctor had told her to get an ultrasound and a mammogram, but that the doctor she had seen never actually followed up on the testing. It wasn't until July of 2021 that they found four cancerous nodules during a mammogram procedure.

WABI reports that a week after the nodules were discovered, Butler was admitted into Eastern Maine Medical Center where she was formally diagnosed with breast cancer. She passed away from the disease on January 1st, 2023.

Butler's family claims in the suit that had the other hospital (St Joseph's) done the mammogram years earlier when they had mentioned it at an appointment, Butler may still be alive today.

WABI then reached out to St. Joseph's hospital however a spokesperson said it was against their policy to make comments about ongoing litigation.

This is a developing story that we will keep updated as more information becomes available to us.