A Delaware County jury awarded a mother of four and her husband more than $5 million after it found her dermatologist failed to timely diagnose a lesion on her cheek that turned out to be cancer and resulted in severe deformity of half of her face.
According to court papers in Reed v. Rhodes , the delay in diagnosis of Kimberly Reed caused a more common type of cancer that forms in the fatty tissue of the body, though rare on the face, to turn into a much more aggressive form of cancer and spread across the one side of her face. This resulted in diminished chances for ultimate survival, though Reed is currently cancer-free, as well as the need for around 10 surgeries and tougher radiation that led to increased deformity of her face and the inability to normally open her mouth and chew or talk.
