An 18-year U.S. Army veteran has won a roughly $2.6 million judgement in a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Phoenix VA Health Care System.
Steven Cooper sobbed and hugged his wife when he heard U.S. Magistrate Michelle H. Burns rule in his favor. After a weeklong bench trial, Burns concluded that VA staff should have ordered follow-up tests and referred Cooper to a urologist when his 2011 prostate exam showed irregularities.
Instead, Cooper’s cancer went undiagnosed for about a year. Burns said it would have been curable if VA staff had responded appropriately in 2011.
“While I’m appreciative of the verdict and the judge and what she did, I’m heartbroken because veterans behind me still are dying to this day,” Cooper said.
Cooper’s cancer is now in remission. But his lawyers said it could come back at any time.
