An Oregon woman died after a doctor failed to spot her rapidly growing lung cancer for two years despite its visibility on annual screening scans.

A jury found that the negligence of a radiologist at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical center in Portland cost Wendi Lui, 51, her life – after her husband fought tirelessly in court to blame those responsible.

An 11-day trial awarded Lui’s family $7.8 million after the defendants, Legacy Health and Diagnostic Imaging NW, unsuccessfully tried to offer settlements to Wendi’s husband Gene, The Oregonian reported.

The settlements came with stipulations that the medical providers would not admit fault, and for Liu to keep quiet about the case. 

His attorney, Rachel O’Neal, told The Oregonian: ‘They offered a substantial sum, and Gene did not accept it because he did not want to be silenced. There was no sum of money that was worth sweeping it under the rug.’ 

Although Gene, a doctor himself, said it was not easy to file the lawsuit in 2024 and ‘proceed with suing a fellow physician,’ he did not want to back down as doctors repeatedly failed to flag a suspicious mass on his wife’s scans. 

The jury ruled that Dr Kari Thomas was to blame for Wendi’s tragic death. 

In 2018, the cancer in one of her lungs was visible on MRIs of her breasts. At the time, the mass was still the size of a small blueberry, but a year later, had doubled without the doctor raising concerns to start further investigation.

It was not until 2020, when the mass was about three centimeters, that a radiologist flagged it as suspicious.

Wendi Lui, 51, died of lung cancer after a radiologist failed to flag a suspicious mass visible on scans for further analysis

Her husband, Gene, fought in court despite settlement offers from the healthcare system that failed Wendi

An analysis then led to a devastating diagnosis.

Surgeons removed the mass but discovered that the cancer had already spread to four of Wendi’s lymph nodes, significantly decreasing her chances of survival, which originally would have been between 85 and 90 percent, according to O’Neal.

Diagnostic Imaging NW first claimed that the radiologist, who analyzed Wendi’s 2019 scan and did not raise issues with the mass, was not at fault. 

A written statement from a lawyer representing Diagnostic Imaging NW claimed that Thomas had in fact acted competently, The Oregonian reported.

But receiving care two years earlier, when the mass was already visible, could have saved Wendi from what was diagnosed as advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

The pastry chef and graphic designer eventually lost her three-year-long battle against the disease, during which she underwent chemotherapy and radiation, among other treatments.

According to her husband, she was no longer able to walk, use her arms or even see when she decided to end her fight through physician-assisted death, which is legal under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act.

Before her diagnosis, she was a healthy person and an eager open water swimmer, who participated in the Portland Bridge Swim, a race of 11 miles that must be completed in five hours.

She was also a non-smoker, a demographic that still accounts for 10 to 20 percent of lung cancer cases in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Daily Mail contacted Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center and Dr Kari Thomas for comment.