The family of Ben Serico won a $6 million verdict in their lawsuit against Montclair doctor Robert Rothberg, in which the relatives claimed he failed to diagnose Serico's colon cancer
An Essex County jury on Wednesday awarded a $6 million verdict to the family of a man who died from colon cancer in a medical malpractice lawsuit against his former doctor, according to the family's attorney. (File photo)NEWARK -- The family of a man who died from colon cancer won a $6 million verdict on Wednesday in a medical malpractice lawsuit against his former doctor, according to the family's attorney.
Ben Serico's family claimed in the lawsuit that Dr. Robert Rothberg was negligent for not identifying signs of the cancer during a 2007 colonoscopy. Another doctor discovered the disease about two years later after it had worsened, and the 62-year-old Serico died in December 2011.
Bruce Nagel, the attorney representing Serico's widow and twin sons in the lawsuit, said his reaction to the jury's $6 million verdict was "bittersweet."
"While I'm thrilled with the judgment, it is tragic that Ben Serico died because he didn't get the most basic medical care," said Nagel of the Roseland-based law firm of Nagel Rice LLP.
The trial lasted for about two weeks before Superior Court Judge James S. Rothschild, Jr.
Rothberg's attorney, James Sharp, could not be reached for comment. Rothberg, a colorectal surgeon, has a practice in Montclair.
Serico, who lived in West Caldwell, was an assistant professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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According to Nagel, Serico visited Rothberg in December 2007 and told the doctor he had blood in his stool and that he had an uncle who died from colon cancer. Rothberg conducted a colonoscopy and told Serico the blood was the result of hemorrhoids, Nagel said.
Rothberg also recorded a video of the colonoscopy to be used later for educational purposes, Nagel said.
"He thought he was perfectly fine," said Nagel, referring to Serico.
About two years later, Serico was in severe pain and went to the emergency department at Mountainside Hospital on New Year's Eve in 2009 and the physicians there discovered a large mass in his liver, Nagel said.
On Jan. 5, 2010, a doctor at the hospital conducted a colonoscopy and found that Serico had colon cancer and that it had spread to his liver, Nagel said. Serico then underwent chemotherapy and multiple surgeries before he died on Dec. 27, 2011, Nagel said.
"It was a horrible, horrible two years for him," Nagel said.
Nagel said the video of the 2007 colonoscopy revealed a polyp in Serico's colon. Rothberg said at the trial that he didn't think it was a polyp, but experts for Rothberg and the Serico family both said it was a polyp, according to Nagel.
The cancer grew at the site of that polyp, ultimately causing Serico's death, Nagel said. The family's experts determined that if the polyp had been removed after the 2007 colonoscopy, Serico most likely would have survived, Nagel said.
As a result, Serico's family argued Rothberg was negligent for failing to identify the polyp and remove it, and that the two-year delay led to Serico's death, Nagel said.
"Good medicine requires that every polyp that is seen is removed," Nagel said. "The reality is he didn't remove the polyp that was there."
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
