A Miami doctor said a woman’s mass was benign. Cancer killed her. Was he disciplined?
A possible fatal mistake made at a Miami-Dade radiology center will cost the doctor a $5,000 fine under a settlement agreement still to be approved by the state Board of Medicine.
The proposed agreement, online in the public book of the state Board of Medicine’s Dec. 1 meeting, says Dr. Albert Bleggi will pay the fine; pay Florida Department of Health case costs, estimated at $4,454.72; will have a letter of concern filed against his license; and will take two five-hour continuing medical education courses, one in risk management and one in diagnosis of breast cancer.
This would be the first blemish on the Florida license that Bleggi’s has held since May 2002. State records say his insurance paid $450,000 in a settlement after a 2014 malpractice lawsuit accused Bleggi of negligence in the death of a Lee County 14-year-old from a ruptured appendix. The Ohio license he’s held since 1984 shows no disciplinary actions.
State records say Bleggi now runs Urgent Radiology and Advanced Imaging Consultants of SWF, PL out of his Estero home.
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Benign or deadly mass?
Bleggi is accused of judging a mass found in a patient’s left breast by a Feb. 22, 2019, mammogram at Sunset Radiology, 7000 SW 97th Ave., to be “avascular adenosis,” a non-cancerous breast condition. Therefore, Bleggi judged it to be benign, despite an ultrasound indicating that it might be cancerous.
The woman died of breast cancer on On Feb. 16, 2021.
American Board of Radiology certified Delray Beach Dr. Jon Rosensweig, in his comment letter as the Department of Health’s expert in the investigation, said: “There are two problems with the ultrasound report issued by [Bleggi.]
“First, the mass within the left breast has suspicious features,” Rosensweig wrote. “The margins are indistinct and angulated, terminology which the (American College of Radiology) has deemed as being suspicious for malignancy. And, in comparison with the mammogram and prior mammograms, the mass was either enlarging or new, which should raise suspicion.
“Second, and just as concerning, [Bleggi] gave a histologic diagnosis in the report when stating “avascular adenosis,” Rosensweig continued. “As a radiologist, there is no way to know that the mass is adenosis, as that would require tissue sampling and evaluation by a pathologist. Regardless of the fact that the mass was later histologically proven to be cancer, not adenosis, the radiologist should not be including a presumed tissue diagnosis in the report (especially when incorrect).”
This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 8:32 AM.
