Doctors accused of overlooking dangerous breast condition

A St. Clair County couple is suing doctors they allege failed to properly diagnose the wife's serious breast condition.

Paula and Gerald Dixon filed a lawsuit Sept. 16 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Dr. Markel Owens, Dr. Christina L. Midkiff and Dr. Christopher Mosley. Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Ltd. and Protestant Memorial Medical Center Inc., doing business as Memorial Hospital in Belleville, are also named as defendants.

According to the complaint, Paula Dixon complained to Owens, her gynecologist, of pain and abnormalities in her right breast numerous times between July 2011 and September 2012. In July 2011, she says Mosley allegedly performed a radiological exam of Dixon's right breast at Memorial Hospital. However, Dixon alleges her illness went undiagnosed and untreated until September 2012, resulting in an increased severity of her condition.

The lawsuit does not define Dixon's alleged condition but accuses the doctors and the medical centers of negligence for failing to properly diagnose it. It says the defendants failed to refer Paula Dixon to a specialist and failed to properly interpret the results of a mammogram.

The Dixons seek more than $500,000 in damages for medical expenses, lost wages and costs of the lawsuit.

Attorney Nathaniel O. Brown of Belleville represents the couple.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 14-L-638.