The wife of a recently deceased man claims he died after doctors failed to diagnose him with pancreatic cancer in a timely fashion.
Barbara A. Robert filed a lawsuit Nov. 15 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Dr. Shakeel Ahmed, Jennifer Steinhoff, the Center for Gastrointestinal Health, Dr. David Rawdon, P.C. Associates doing business as Family Physicians of Southern Illinois, Dr. David Martin, Dr. Timothy Manda, Dr. Lundy Colvert, Aaron Settler, Susan Parsons, E. Stephan Bolesta and St. Louis University.
Barbara Robert claims her husband, Ronald R. Robert Sr., began to seek treatment from Ahmed and Dr. David Rawdon who worked at Family Physicians of Southern Illinois for complaints of back pain in May of 2011, according to the complaint. The treatment continued until June 2012, the suit states.
In July 2012, Ronald R. Robert Sr. was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. He began treatments, but died on Oct. 22, 2012, the complaint says.
Before his death, Ronald R. Robert Sr. experienced pain and suffering, endured anxiety and mental distress and lost earnings, Barbara Robert claims. He also incurred medical costs, according to the complaint.
Barbara Robert blames Ahmed; his physician’s assistant, Jennifer Steinhoff; their employer, the Center for Gastrointestinal Health; and Rawdon of Family Physicians of Southern Illinois for contributing to her husband’s injuries and subsequent death, saying they negligently failed to properly diagnose Ronald Robert with pancreatic cancer, failed to properly treat the cancer, failed to timely diagnose and treat Ronald Robert, failed to properly communicate with physicians and failed to keep properly appraised of other physicians’ findings.
She also names Martin, Manda, Colvert and Settler as defendants, saying they were radiologists who interpreted Ronald Robert’s radiological tests, but failed to properly interpret them and failed to properly perform them.
Parsons and Bolesta were pathologists who worked for defendant St. Louis University. They are blamed for contributing to Ronald Roberts’s death for their alleged failure to properly perform the tests and failure to properly perform the tests, according to the complaint.
In her complaint, Barbara Robert seeks a judgment of more than $400,000, plus costs and other relief the court deems just.
Alan G. Pirtle of Becker, Paulson, Hoerner and Thompson in Belleville will be representing her.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-584.
Woman claims doctors failed to timely diagnose deceased husband's pancreatic cancer
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