The state Supreme Court is being asked today whether a northeast Missouri doctor is liable in the death of a man due to a terminal brain tumor because he didn’t catch that tumor earlier.

The Missouri Supreme Court

The Missouri Supreme Court in 2014

A Hannibal man, Joseph Mickels, died in June 2009 after undergoing brain surgery in February of that year. A Hannibal doctor, Dr. Raman Danrad, didn’t detect Mickels’ brain tumor in a December, 2008 CT scan but did on a scan in February, 2009.

The Court is being asked to consider whether Mickels would have lived any longer if his tumor had been caught earlier. His family argues he would have, and say the doctor was negligent.

Danrad’s attorneys argue that under Missouri legal precedent, the doctor is not liable because the tumor was terminal regardless of how early it was found.

The family is asking the Court to allow a lower court jury trial to proceed.  Once the Supreme Court hears today’s arguments, it could issue a decision at any time.