A woman whose cancer diagnosis was delayed more than four years by her doctors' failure to report a mass on her lung has been awarded a $3 million verdict by a Jefferson County jury. The verdict is the largest ever reported in Jefferson County, according to a review of The Legal's annual listing of top verdicts and settlements.

The jury handed up the verdict in Palar v. Wohlwend on Nov. 13, finding Dr. John Wohlwend and Dr. Kamal Khalaf each 50 percent negligent for the past and future noneconomic losses suffered by plaintiff Katherine Palar.

Palar was sent to Punxsutawney Hospital in March 2009 for an MRI on her spine. According to the plaintiff's memorandum, Wohlwend interpreted the film and did not report a mass in the right upper lobe of Palar's lung. He recommended a second MRI to evaluate a small cystic lesion next to her spine, which Palar received in April 2009. It again showed a mass measuring 2.2 centimeters by 1.8 centimeters, the memo said, and Wohlwend again did not report it.