GLOBAL - A civil jury in the U.S. state of Maine has awarded $25 million to a mother whose 15-year-old daughter died from a treatable form of leukemia after doctors allegedly misdiagnosed her condition. The verdict, delivered on Thursday, 30th October 2025, found Mid Coast Medical Group negligent in the 2021 death of Jasmine “Jazzy” Vincent. This case brings to the forefront the critical global issue of medical negligence and its devastating impact on families, a subject of significant concern and debate within Kenya.

The jury awarded Lyndsey Sutherland, the teen's mother, $10 million for the wrongful death of her daughter and an additional $15 million for pain and suffering. However, the final payout is likely to be significantly reduced due to a Maine state law that caps wrongful death damages. According to legal experts, the cap for non-economic damages, such as loss of comfort and companionship, was recently adjusted for inflation but remains substantially lower than the jury's award. There are no caps on economic damages or for claims related to the deceased's conscious pain and suffering before death.

A Tragic Timeline of Misdiagnosis

Jasmine “Jazzy” Vincent first became ill on 14th July 2021. She was initially diagnosed with pneumonia. After her symptoms worsened to include severe swelling of her breasts and neck veins, a gynecologist at Mid Coast Medical Group, Dr. Danielle Salhany, diagnosed her with gynecomastia. This condition is characterized by an increase in breast tissue and is most commonly found in men who use anabolic steroids. Sutherland's lawyers argued that this was a highly unusual diagnosis for a teenage girl and that the medical team failed to conduct basic tests like an X-ray or blood work that could have revealed the underlying cancer.

Just 18 days after her initial symptoms, on 1st August 2021, Jasmine Vincent died of cardiac arrest caused by a buildup of fluid around her heart and lungs. An autopsy later confirmed the cause was acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common and highly treatable form of pediatric cancer if diagnosed in a timely manner. Common symptoms of leukemia in teenagers can include fatigue, fever, frequent infections, easy bruising or bleeding, and bone pain, which can sometimes be mistaken for other common illnesses.

The Question of Accountability

During the trial, which began on Monday, 27th October 2025, Sutherland's attorneys contended that Mid Coast Medical Group failed to meet the minimum standards of care. The defense argued that medical professionals must make numerous complex decisions daily and that honest mistakes should not be punished. They also suggested that the primary care provider, Martin's Point Health Care, which Sutherland had initially also sued but later dropped from the case, shared some responsibility. The jury ultimately sided with the mother after just an hour of deliberation.

Relevance for Kenya

While this case unfolded thousands of miles away, it resonates deeply with ongoing challenges in the Kenyan healthcare sector. Medical misdiagnosis and negligence are significant issues in Kenya, with numerous cases reported in the media and handled by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC). Kenyan law allows for medical malpractice claims to be brought under the tort of negligence. To succeed, a claimant must prove that a healthcare provider owed them a duty of care, that this duty was breached, and that the breach directly caused harm or injury. The Limitation of Actions Act requires that such claims be filed within three years of the incident.

High-profile cases in Kenya, such as the 2018 incident at Kenyatta National Hospital where brain surgery was performed on the wrong patient, have highlighted systemic weaknesses. Legal experts and patient advocates in Kenya continue to call for greater accountability, improved diagnostic capacity, and more robust systems for patient recourse. The verdict in the Jasmine Vincent case serves as a powerful international example of the legal and financial consequences healthcare providers can face for failing in their duty of care, sending a message that could influence discussions on patient rights and medical accountability in Kenya and across East Africa.