Cervical cancer not timely diagnosed, daughter claims

The daughter of a deceased woman says her mother died after doctors failed to timely diagnose her with cervical cancer.

Noel Mabe, independent administrator and daughter of Eutha Ochoa, filed a suit June 29 in Madison County Circuit Court against Dr. Yogendra Shah, Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Dr. Stephen C. Arny and Dr. Vidya Deshpande.

Mabe says her mother suffered invasive cervical cancer, which led to her death on Jan. 23, 2008.

Eutha Ochoa's life may have been saved, though, if doctors had discovered the cancer before Ochoa's July 18, 2007, diagnosis, according to the complaint.

Shah "failed to timely obtain a repeat Pap smear following report of the January 22, 2007 Pap smear with no endocervical cells reported in the sample when the LEEP conization pathology in October, 2006 indicated that the severe dysplasia-carcinoma in situ was present at the squamocolumnar junction without documentation of clear endocervical margins," the complaint says.

The doctor also failed to provide adequate history to accompany the specimen for the Pap smear screen that was submitted to Medical Diagnostic Laboratory on Jan. 22, 2007, and failed to schedule a follow-up Pap smear, the suit states.

Medical Diagnostic failed to appreciate previous cervical pathology when it reviewed Eutha Ochoa's Pap smear, according to the complaint.

Before her death, Eutha Ochoa experienced extreme pain and suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress and incurred medical expenses, Mabe claims.

Eutha Ochoa left behind her husband, Amador Ochoa, and her two daughters Yolanda Ochoa and Noel Mabe, according to the complaint.

All have experienced loss of support, grief, sorrow, loss of companionship and loss of society, the suit states.

Mabe says she incurred $8,140.52 in funeral and burial expenses.

Arny and Deshpande are named as respondents in discovery. Mabe is allowed six months to find enough evidence against the two doctors to name them as defendants in the suit.

In the 11-count suit, Mabe is seeking a judgment of more than $324,421.56 plus costs.

Paul G. Schoen of Schoen, Walton, Telken and Foster in East St. Louis will be representing her.

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 09-L-678.