Family of Bangor Candy Maker who Died of Cancer Last Year Sues Hospital

Well-known and well-loved Bangor candy maker, Eliza Butler, passed away on New Year's Day 2023, after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

Butler, who with her husband Wade, owned Specialty Sweets in Bangor, left behind four young children. Butler, who was outspoken and honest on her social media about her health challenges, often spoke about the different procedures, tests, and treatments she had to undergo.

There was a massive community outpouring for the young family, both while Butler was in treatment for her cancer and following her death.

But according to Butler's family, her death may have been prevented, had she been diagnosed sooner, something her husband is now going to try to prove in court.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Butler's widower is suing St. Joseph Hospital and Healthcare "claiming that they caused Butler’s wrongful death and failed to provide acceptable medical care, according to a lawsuit filed in Penobscot County Superior Court."

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The BDN states that documents filed with the court prove that her cancer could have been caught earlier, had her healthcare providers followed up on complaints she had years before her diagnosis.

"During the years before Butler was diagnosed, she had numerous visits to St. Joseph Hospital with different providers where she described vision loss, back pain, a tingling arm, problems breathing, and more issues, according to the lawsuit."

The article goes on to say that health care providers failed to perform crucial diagnostic tests during those early years, and it wasn't until a few years later that Butler received the important imaging, that would ultimately show that cancer was the issue, but also just how advanced the cancer had become.

"No mammograms or ultrasounds were ordered during those years, and a full breast exam was not performed at St. Joseph. Butler’s cancer was diagnosed after she was admitted to EMMC in July 2021, the lawsuit said."

Butler's family is suing the hospital for damages.

A representative of St. Joseph Hospital communicated to the paper that the hospital's policy is not to comment on cases currently pending.