A Palmerton couple had been awarded damages of $200,000 in a malpractice suit against a county doctor and medical group.

Robert and Susan Ziegenfus, of 175 Ziegre Drive, filed suit against Dr. Edward D. Manzella, and Manzella Family Healthcare, of 1353 Route 903, in Jim Thorpe.

Following a four-day trial last week, which concluded on Friday, a county jury panel awarded the Ziegenfuses $150,000 for pain and suffering and $50,000 for past and future loss of life’s pleasures.

The suit was filed in 2017 alleging that in July 2015 Dr. Manzella’s “negligent recognition and reporting of the July 2015 biopsy results and his subsequent reassurance to Mr. Ziegenfus that there was no cancer resulted in a 13-month delay in the diagnosis of Mr. Ziegenfus’ malignant melanoma.”

The suit states Ziegenfus went to see Manzella with a discolored mole on his back which had become increasingly itchy. Manzella ordered a skin biopsy of the mole. The results of the biopsy were reported on July 19, 2015. The suit states the diagnosis on the pathology report for the biopsy was reported as “minuscule fragment, not surviving processing.”

The suit further charged that “despite the fact that the pathology report indicated that the specimen could not be tested, a handwritten note was written on the report instructing someone in the office to call Mr. Ziegenfus and tell him that the biopsy showed ‘no cancer.’?”

The suit charged the handwritten note was written by Manzella.

The suit states that the plaintiff returned to Manzella’s office for the biopsy results and was told by the defendant that “everything was fine and that the biopsy showed no cancer.”

Ziegenfus then consulted another doctor in August 2016 who ordered another biopsy. That biopsy, according to the suit, showed a “malignant melanoma, at least 3.3 mm in thickness with vascular invasion.” That information was given to the plaintiff.

The suit claimed because of Manzella’s actions, Ziegenfus had a 13-month delay in diagnosis “which permitted the malignant melanoma to grow and spread undiagnosed and untreated, resulted in more extensive surgery and treatment that would otherwise have been needed, and significantly worsened Mr. Ziegenfus’ prognosis, risk of recurrence and chances for cure.”

The trial was presided over by Judge Steven R. Serfass.

The defendant(s) have a right to appeal the verdict.