Jury sides with physicians in neurosurgery malpractice suit

A Missouri jury has sided with two Springfield, Mo.-based physicians and their employers in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by the widow of a man who died in 2022 from metastatic melanoma in his brain, Missouri Lawyers Media reported Jan. 28. 

On behalf of her minor child, Alison Pendergrass sued Iftikhar Ali, MD, Salim Rahman, MD, Springfield, Mo.-based Lester E. Cox Medical Center and Springfield (Mo.) Neurological and Spine Institute, alleging that Dr. Rahman failed to submit an abnormal skin lesion for biopsy after removing it from Bill Enoch's back during a spinal fusion procedure in November 2019. 

The lawsuit also alleged that Dr. Ali, Mr. Enoch's primary care physician did not detect the abnormality during regular office visits, and that the lesion was only detected and removed nearly two years later after seeing two other providers, followed by his cancer diagnosis. Mr. Enoch died in October 2022. 

Mr. Enoch's lawyers sought $4.5 million at trial, which was rejected after an eight-day trial that concluded in November 2024.

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