Husband Claims Hospital, Doctors Delayed Diagnosing Wife's Cancer

By Brittany Golledge

Published on December 02, 2005

A Valparaiso man whose wife passed away from ovarian cancer in 2002 has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Porter Hospital in Indiana, as well as four doctors who managed his wife's care.

The plaintiff, Kenneth Schau, alleges that the doctors failed to diagnose his wife's cancer in time to prevent her death.

Sheila Schau, the plaintiff's wife, died in February of 2002 after her cancer metastasized. She had initially sought treatment from doctors with Porter Hospital in August of 1999 after experiencing chest pain. According to plaintiff's attorneys, over the next two years her doctors -- Beno Sikand, Kimberly Tolliver, Edward F. Fara, and Maximo Bleza -- failed to keep adequate medical records and never ordered the proper x-rays and biopsies that would have indicated cancer.

The lawsuit claims that the two-year, six month delay in diagnosis cost Sheila Schau her life. The lawsuit does not specify damages, but according to Schau's attorney, Timothy Schafer, his client will be seeking the maximum amount allowed under state law, $1.25 million.

Representatives from Porter Hospital have had no comment as of Friday.

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