Georgia Doctor Ordered to Pay $56.8 Million Over Missed Skin Cancer Diagnosis
After trial: Defense attorney Page Powell said after the verdict that the defense would pursue some form of post-judgment relief, though he had not specified whether that would be a motion for new trial, remittitur, or an appeal. As of this writing, no notice of appeal, appellate docket entry, or Georgia Court of Appeals ruling had surfaced. Waldrop's lead trial counsel told a trial-coverage outlet that the total judgment runs well beyond the defendants' combined malpractice insurance coverage, leaving open how much of the award the family will ultimately collect. Neither the Fulton County trial docket nor the Georgia appellate docket could be checked directly for this write-up. Post-judgment interest continues to accrue on the unpaid balance at a statutory rate of 9.75 percent annually.
Won by Bell Law Firm.
A Fulton County jury found dermatologist Joseph Payne and his practice liable for missing a recurrence of skin cancer in Tony Waldrop, a Vietnam veteran, after Payne discarded tissue from a 2013 lesion without ordering a biopsy. The cancer went undiagnosed for roughly eight months and required extensive facial surgery that left Waldrop permanently disfigured. In December 2025, on the case's third trial, the jury awarded $32 million to Waldrop's estate and $16 million to his widow, for a combined $48 million. State Court Judge Eric Richardson added $8.8 million in pre-judgment interest, bringing the total judgment to $56.8 million. Waldrop died in 2022, before the case reached its final resolution.
What happened
In December 2025, a Fulton County jury found an Atlanta dermatologist responsible for missing a recurrence of skin cancer in a Vietnam combat veteran, a failure that led to extensive facial surgery. State Court Judge Eric Richardson entered final judgment on the verdict, with interest, for a total of $56.8 million.
Tony Ray Waldrop first saw dermatologist Joseph Payne for skin cancer near his right ear, and Payne performed a Mohs procedure to remove it in June 2013. Six months later, Waldrop returned with a painful lesion in the same spot. According to trial evidence, Payne diagnosed it as a cyst, removed it, and discarded the tissue without sending it out for biopsy. It was not until February 2014, roughly eight months after the original procedure, that the recurrence was identified as cancer. At trial, Waldrop's lawyers argued that Payne should have referred him to a specialist for possible radiation treatment after the 2013 procedure. The defense argued that what Payne saw on the pathology slides gave him no reason to make that referral.
By then the disease had spread. Waldrop underwent extensive surgery that removed portions of his ear, his teeth, his salivary glands, and facial bone. He was left permanently disfigured, with lasting problems eating, talking, hearing, and sleeping. Waldrop, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was exposed to Agent Orange during his service, died in 2022 at age 74 of an unrelated cancer, before the case reached its final resolution. His widow continued the suit individually and as representative of his estate.
The case had already been through two trials by the time it reached this outcome. Waldrop filed suit in 2017. A first trial in 2020 ended in mistrial. A second trial in January 2024 produced a defense verdict, but Judge Richardson granted a motion for a new trial over an evidentiary problem at that trial.
The third trial opened in early December 2025 and was split into two phases. The jury first found Payne and his practice, Dermatology Associates of Atlanta, liable, then on December 11 awarded $32 million to Waldrop's estate for his pain and suffering and $16 million to his widow for loss of consortium, a combined $48 million. Because the defendants had rejected an earlier settlement demand and the verdict exceeded it, Judge Richardson added $8.8 million in pre-judgment interest under Georgia's demand-letter statute, bringing the total judgment to $56.8 million. Post-judgment interest continues to accrue on the unpaid balance at a statutory rate.
Defense attorney Page Powell told reporters after the verdict that the defense would 'definitely pursue some form of post-judgment relief' but had not decided what that would look like. No notice of appeal or appellate ruling has surfaced since. Lloyd Bell of Bell Law Firm led the trial team that represented Waldrop and his widow.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec 17 2025: verdict amount, interest, judge's order, attorney of record (Lloyd Bell), defense counsel's stated intent to seek post-judgment relief, and case history including the vacated 2024 defense verdict
- 2.Courtroom View Network, Dec 2025 staffed trial coverage confirming the $48 million jury verdict breakdown, case caption and number, plaintiff's counsel (Lloyd Bell), and defense counsel
- 3.Fulton County State Court, Final Judgment filed Dec 12 2025 (Civil Action No. 17EV004844): the court's exact verdict and interest figures, judge's signature, and case caption
- 4.Courtroom View Network, Dec 2025 staffed coverage of trial openings: the June 2013 Mohs procedure, the December 2013 return visit and discarded tissue, the February 2014 diagnosis, the disputed referral for radiation treatment, and counsel for both sides
- 5.Courtroom View Network, Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts of 2025 (ranking roundup, corroboration only): repeats the verdict breakdown and plaintiff's counsel, and carries counsel's statement that the judgment exceeds the defendants' combined insurance coverage
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