Bell's Palsy Mistaken for Cancer of the Parotid Gland

Case Overview

This case involves a patient who was misdiagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. Further medical evaluation showed that the patient had a malignant tumor of the parotid gland that was ultimately fatal. The necessary imaging reports (MRI/CT scan) were conducted but the radiologist failed to report the mass in his diagnostic reports.

Questions to the Radiology expert and their responses

The attorney is looking for an expert in this particular field of radiology who can review the medical records and imaging studies to determine if there was any deviation from the radiological standard of care or if any negligence was apparent.

This is actually a common incident where an unskilled radiologist can miss a parotid tumor and mistake the diagnosis for bells palsy.

About the expert

This expert is board certified in Diagnostic Radiology as well as fellowship trained in Body Imaging. He reviews hundreds of oncology cases per year. He regularly reviews PET scans and PET-CT scans in comparison with CT or MR studies.