FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A jury awarded more than $50 million to the estate of Vietnam veteran Tony Waldrop after finding that a doctor disfigured him.
In 2013, Waldrop was suffering from skin cancer on his right ear and was getting treated at the VA for years with no problems. But he needed an appointment quicker than the VA could provide.
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“The VA couldn’t see him in time for this. He needed to be seen sooner than later, so he got a referral from the VA, and they sent him to Dr. Payne, who is also a vet,” attorney Lloyd Bell told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes.
The dermatologist did a procedure where he removed some tissue, but the cancer came back in the same spot.
“When it grew back, Dr. Payne cut it out, but then he throws the tissue away and doesn’t send for biopsy. He thought it was a cyst,” Bell said. “Well, that’s a bad idea if you deal with a high-risk cancer patient, because when he grew back again a month and a half, two months later, it had invaded deep into his face.”
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It disfigured Waldrop and his family says he spent the next eight years suffering before he died.
Last week, a Fulton County jury found that Dr. Payne was negligent in his medical treatment and awarded his estate $56.8 million.
“I hope it says that people need to check themselves and check their views of their infallibility, and, like I said, doctors are just like everybody else where they have to keep their guard up that they’re not getting overly confident and that they are staying humble,” Bell said.
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