Columbia-Presbyterian doctor failed to notify patient of cancerous cyst: suit

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By Carl Campanile

A prominent heart doctor at New York’s Columbia-Presbyterian hospital has been sued for allegedly failing to tell a patient she had a cyst — which then grew into full-blown stage IV pancreatic cancer, new court documents show.

Dr. Michael Argenziano, a cardiac surgeon at the hospital, is being accused of negligence by patient Jo-hanna Punzone, 79, who claims she could have been spared the dire outcome had she known about the cancerous growth back in 2021, according to her lawsuit.

Instead, “the cancer grew undiagnosed and untreated, metastasizing” — and by the time it was discovered this September, the “pancreatic cancer now involved her liver and pelvic bones,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit states.

“No one told me I had a cyst. If they did I wouldn’t be in this predicament,” Punzone, who walks with the aid of a walker and wheelchair and has undergone chemotherapy, told The Post in a recent interview.

“I wouldn’t be going through what I’m going through now. I could have taken care of it,” she said.

Argenziano — the associate chief of the adult cardiac surgery section and director of the thoracic surgery residency program at Columbia University Irving Medical Center — had ordered a CT scan for Punzone before performing a surgery replacing her mitral valve on  August 24, 2021, the suit alleges.

The CT scan found Puzone had a 1-centimeter cystic lesion in the tail of her pancreas — “an unexpected, abnormal and significant finding,” according to the court documents filed Dec. 6 by Punzone’s lawyer Andrew Carboy.

The radiologist, Honga Ma — also listed as a defendant along with Argenziano’s physician assistant Elizabeth Wist — recommended follow up tests of Puzone’s pancreatic cyst, the suit states.

That didn’t happen and Punzone was never informed she had a small cancerous cyst, according to the complaint.

Two years later, Punzone, complaining of hip and bone discomfort, was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer by her current doctors at New Jersey’s Riverview Medical Center.

“There can be no reading comprehension without reading, in the first instance. It is apparent, and more than likely, that no one, other than defendant [radiologist] Ma, even read the report section detailing the pancreatic mass and the recommendations for further evaluation,” the filing states.

The lawsuit claims the then-small cyst could have been contained or removed in 2021, when it was manageable — before it blew up into cancer that spread through Punzone’s pancreas, liver and pelvis.

“The defendants diminished her chance of a better outcome with respect to her pancreatic cancer, aggravating and/or increasing the spread and lethality of the disease, and depriving her of a substantial opportunity of cure,” Carboy wrote in the court papers.

“Because of the defendants’ negligence, at the time of diagnosis, Ms. Punzone’s cancer was inoperable, having raged unchecked for years,” the filing states, adding that Punzone “is not a candidate for surgical removal of her cancer.”

“I’m in god’s hands now,” Punzone told The Post.

The suit asks for unspecified damages for negligence.

Argenziano, Columbia Medical and Presbyterian Hospital, also listed as defendants, all had no immediate comment.

Wist, who no longer works at the hospital, declined to comment. Ma also declined comment.

The two New York hospitals last year agreed to pay more than $165 million to 147 former patients who have accused former gynecologist Robert Hadden of sexual abuse and misconduct.

Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian had reached a settlement to establish a $71 million compensation fund with 79 of Hadden’s former patients.