Boston VA faces wrongful demise lawsuit after veteran’s ‘premature and preventable death’

The household of a Vietnam-era veteran who died after his VA docs allegedly failed to inform him that he had most cancers has filed a wrongful demise lawsuit in opposition to the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Natick man William “Joey” Howard, 74, died from lung most cancers and esophageal most cancers in Could of 2023 — a “premature and preventable death” after his VA docs reportedly didn’t inform him about his optimistic most cancers outcomes for practically a yr.

Howard’s early localized lung most cancers in October 2021 grew and unfold all through the following yr, leading to metastatic illness. Howard additionally developed a neighborhood esophageal most cancers throughout the identical time interval.

In the meantime, VA workers didn’t inform Howard of his lung most cancers analysis, resulting in a significant delay in therapy, based on the wrongful demise swimsuit. That prolonged delay led to his demise, based on his household’s federal lawsuit in opposition to the VA.

“Like any patient in any healthcare setting expects, our veterans should be able to expect they will receive good and proper, high quality, medical care and treatment from their doctors at the Veterans Administration,” mentioned the household’s lawyer Adam R. Satin, of Lubin & Meyer, PC. “It’s the least our government can do for those who served and sacrificed for this country.

“Tragically, William Howard received the polar opposite from his doctors at the VA,” the legal professional added. “This veteran died because his doctors negligently failed to make a simple phone call and just tell him that they had found cancer on a test he’d had.”

Howard, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the course of the Vietnam Struggle period, labored as a handyman for a few years in Natick and the encompassing areas.

The grandfather, who beforehand lived in Roslindale, died of esophageal adenocarcinoma within the setting of metastatic lung most cancers on Could 26, 2023. His smoking historical past included half a pack per day since he was a youngster.

“Mr. Howard suffered a significant 11-month delay in treatment of lung cancer, and delay in the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer, leading to his premature and preventable death as a direct result of the substandard care and treatment rendered to him by VA Boston Healthcare providers,” the lawsuit reads.

The swimsuit is being introduced in opposition to the VA workers in West Roxbury.

“They knew he had cancer, but he didn’t know it because they failed to tell him,” the household’s lawyer mentioned. “If they had just told him about it, the tragic pain and suffering and death that unfolded from that point forward would have been avoided. Mr. Howard deserved better from his doctors and the government to which he entrusted his healthcare.”

In line with the swimsuit, Howard in September of 2021 was admitted to the Boston VA Hospital with complaints of shortness of breath. He underwent a sequence of assessments, and a physician discovered that Howard had “multiple abnormalities… concerning for malignancy.”

A follow-up biopsy revealed that he was optimistic for malignant cells, in keeping with non-small cell carcinoma. The docs, nevertheless, failed to inform Howard in regards to the lung most cancers outcomes — and didn’t be sure that he was referred to oncology, based on the lawsuit.

A yr later, Howard went to the VA emergency division with complaints of power ache, shortness of breath, leg swelling, and generalized weak point. He had been affected by leg swelling with oozing, and will barely stroll with out shortness of breath and had been sleeping on his facet for aid.

The cell carcinoma had elevated in dimension and unfold, and he had developed a neighborhood esophageal most cancers, based on assessments.

VA workers later held an “institutional disclosure of an adverse event” convention with Howard and his sons, based on the lawsuit.

The workers reportedly apologized to Howard and his household for the communication points resulting in the delay of his lung most cancers therapy. The VA supplied expedited consultations, preparations for second opinions, and mentioned an institutional investigation was underway.

“The prognosis of a patient diagnosed with lung and/or esophageal cancer largely depends upon the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis,” the lawsuit reads. “If detected and diagnosed at an early stage, lung and esophageal cancers are treatable and amenable to cure.

“However, if the cancers are not diagnosed and treated for a significant period, and allowed to grow and spread, the patient’s cancer becomes more difficult or impossible to surgically remove, the treatment options become more aggressive, the patient has an overall worsened prognosis, decreased chance of long-term survival, and more likely than not, will suffer a premature and preventable death, as in the case of William Howard,” the swimsuit states.