Woman was not told about lung nodule years before terminal cancer diagnosis, lawsuit alleges

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) - A woman and her husband are suing a hospital after her doctor allegedly failed to share critical medical information that the lawsuit claims could have prevented her stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

The lawsuit against Roper St. Francis Hospital and Dr. Alexis Jesup alleges gross negligence and medical malpractice for repeatedly failing to communicate or investigate the incidental finding.

A routine cardiac screening in 2022 flagged an 8-millimeter nodule in Shannon James’s lung with explicit medical instructions for follow-up scans within six to 12 months.

Nearly three years passed before she was ever told about it, according to the lawsuit.

By the time doctors caught the error in May 2025, James had developed terminal, stage 4 lung cancer that spread to her bones.

A routine scan and a missed warning

According to court filings, James was an active, healthy nonsmoker when she went to Jesup on June 15, 2022, for an annual physical examination. Jesup ordered a CT cardiac scoring study because of high triglycerides and a family history of coronary disease.

On July 26, 2022, the scan performed at a Roper St. Francis facility returned a clean cardiac score of zero. However, the radiologist documented a critical incidental finding.

“There is a lobular nodule within the left lower lobe measuring up to 8 mm in size. Per Fleischner criteria, recommended follow-up chest CT 6-12 months for further evaluation,” the radiologist documented.

An 8-millimeter nodule, roughly the size of a pencil eraser, was found in the lower portion of James’s left lung. Under national medical guidelines, suspicious lung nodules of that size require follow-up imaging within six to 12 months to detect potential malignancy.

According to the complaint, Jesup never communicated the finding to James, never ordered the recommended CT scan and allowed the 2023 follow-up window to pass without investigation.

Annual exams passed with no mention

When James returned for her annual checkup on June 27, 2023, the lawsuit states the nodule was never mentioned or evaluated.

By her July 1, 2024, annual exam, James had developed worsening respiratory issues, including intermittent wheezing, a chronic cough and exercise-induced shortness of breath.

The lawsuit alleges Jesup dismissed those symptoms as allergies and recommended over-the-counter antihistamines without reviewing the 2022 scan or ordering a chest CT.

James spent months undergoing allergy and asthma treatments through an outside specialist, while her underlying condition continued to deteriorate.

The discovery

In early 2025, suffering from severe shortness of breath, James made an appointment with Dr. Craig Schuring, a pulmonologist at Charleston Pulmonary Associates, an affiliate of Roper.

While reviewing James’s medical history prior to her exam, Schuring discovered the July 2022 scan in her chart nearly three years after it was recorded. He immediately ordered a chest CT, performed May 7, 2025, at Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital.

When radiologists compared the new imaging to the 2022 report, the findings were catastrophic:

A 3.1-centimeter tumor mass in the left lung.

Extensive mediastinal lymph node enlargement measuring 3.6 centimeters.

An enlarged lymph node in her left jugular chain.

The next day, James’s blood oxygen saturation plunged to a dangerously low 89%, prompting an emergency referral to surgical oncology.

‘Her prognosis is now terminal’

Subsequent scans and bone biopsies confirmed the cancer had spread to her pelvis, and she was diagnosed with stage 4A metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Seeking advanced care, James traveled to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. On June 12, 2025, thoracic oncologist Dr. Eric Singhi confirmed the diagnosis and documented that James’s treatment intent is strictly “palliative and NOT curative.”

The lawsuit contends that, after her 8-millimeter nodule went ignored for nearly three years, James now faces a terminal diagnosis.

“Her prognosis is now terminal,” the lawsuit states. “She faces a lifetime of chemotherapy, progressive illness and loss of the life she had and expected.”

“She has lost the ability to live the active and fulfilling life she previously enjoyed. Her life expectancy has been catastrophically shortened,” the lawsuit states.

Roper St. Francis was contacted regarding the lawsuit and has not yet responded.