Earlier this month, a malpractice lawsuit resulted in a $4 million dollar award to the patient plaintiff who suffered permanent nerve damage after a family practice physician excised a cyst from the neck. [ link ] Briefly, the patient visited the family physician in July 2009 for a lump in his left neck . The family physician recommended that the mass be surgically excised which was subsequently performed by the same family physician (not a surgeon) in the office. After the procedure, the p…