The Honolulu Advertiser Wednesday, October 28, 1992 A7
By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Honolulu clinical psychologist has been awarded $1,485,000 from Kaiser Permanente Medical Group for its failure to perform a screening that could have detected her breast cancer at an earlier, curable stage, her attorney said yesterday.

Helen Ann Beiser, 47, found the tumor herself in her right breast two years ago when it had reached an advanced stage that is cured in only about 25 percent of the cases, said attorney Richard Turbin, who called the award the highest of its kind in Hawaii.

Beiser stopped working and has undergone a mastectomy and radiation treatment and is currently undergoing chemotherapy, Turbin said.

Beiser had complained of chest and breast pain for nearly three years, but was never given a clinical breast exam, Turbin said.

Turbin said the American Cancer Society guidelines recommend that women older than 40 receive clinical breast exams once a year and mammograms every two years, but he said Kaiser contended it was not negligent because surveys show 85 percent of doctors do not follow the guidelines.

Turbin said October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and said he hopes the case "sends a message" to doctors that they must follow the society's guidelines.

Kaiser issued a statement saying the case "demonstrates the value of appropriate preventive screening combined with a woman's personal responsibility for regular self-examination."

Kaiser said it sympathizes with Beiser and regrets when illness or cancer strikes any of its members, but said Beiser failed to keep two scheduled mammography appointments and did not follow through with annual visits to an obstetrician/gynecologist to get breast examinations.

As a result, Beiser was found partially responsible for the delay in detecting the tumor, Kaiser said.

The arbitration panel found that Beiser's damages were $1,650,000, but found her to be 10 percent negligent and reduced the award by that percentage. Kaiser was found to be 90 percent negligent.

Kaiser is paying an additional $50,000 for Beiser's attorney fees and costs, Turbin said.