Estate seeks to revive radiology malpractice suit in Florida

Attorneys for the estate of Jennifer Palmer are asking the Florida Supreme Court to revive a malpractice lawsuit involving a New York radiologist, a surgeon, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The case, Janet Thorpe v. Memorial Sloan Kettering, et al., centers on whether Florida courts can exercise jurisdiction over out-of-state medical defendants under the state’s long-arm statute.

Palmer lived in New York between 2012 and 2015 and received treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering for a thigh mass, according to the Sixth District Court of Appeal opinion. After surgery, she underwent follow-up testing, including an MRI interpreted by Sinchun Hwang, MD, a radiologist at the New York cancer center.

The lawsuit alleges that the MRI showed the cancer had spread into Palmer’s bone and that follow-up care was delayed. The complaint also alleges that additional signs of cancer spread were not identified and further testing and treatment were not ordered.

A trial court dismissed the second amended complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction over Hwang, surgeon Sam Sunghyun Yoon, MD, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. The Sixth District Court of Appeal affirmed that dismissal in April 2025.

On appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, plaintiff attorneys are arguing that medical records forwarded to Florida physicians may fall within the statutory definition of “products, materials, or things processed, serviced, or manufactured,” according to The Florida Bar.

The Sixth DCA previously found that medical reports did not fit that definition and that the plaintiffs failed to establish a temporal connection between the alleged injury and the records’ later use in Florida.

Defense attorney Gerard Collins, representing the defendants, told justices that the statute concerns physical handling of products and “does not involve an opinion or thoughts from a doctor.”

The appellate court certified conflict with a 2001 First District Court of Appeal decision, Dean v. Jones, which involved medical reports sent to Florida by an Alabama physician. That conflict is now part of the issue before the state Supreme Court.

Palmer died in 2021 at age 34 after the cancer spread to her bones. Her mother, Janet Thorpe, is pursuing the case as personal representative of the estate.