CLEVELAND — Barbara Sandon Norris thought she had every reason to celebrate in May. Seven years cancer-free with a clean mammogram, the 72-year-old Cleveland woman almost skipped her routine follow-up appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Breast Center .

"I thought I'm cancer free. I've got a clean mammogram. I'm not going," Norris said. But she decided to meet her new physician assistant, Molly Greenhouse, who was taking over care from Norris's retiring nurse.

During the physical exam, Greenhouse noticed something unusual — an asymmetry between Norris's breasts. Despite a clean mammogram completed earlier that month, Greenhouse ordered an immediate ultrasound. That too came back clear.

But Greenhouse persisted. She insisted Norris get an MRI with contrast, even though the patient wa

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