Late last year, the 2013 story of a woman who unnecessarily had breast removal surgery because of a breast cancer misdiagnosis made the news. Per the report, mere weeks after she was informed that she had breast cancer and underwent surgery to remove her left breast, the woman was called to meet with her surgeon. During that meeting, her surgeon revealed to her that she had never had breast cancer and the breast removal surgery should not have happened.
How Could This Have Happened?
Reportedly, the breast cancer misdiagnosis happened as a result of an error with a biopsy that was submitted for testing after a routine mammogram. The pathologist that made the error was the same one who discovered and reported his own mistake. He was a senior pathologist with years of experience when he made the misdiagnosis. In addition, he was the dean of a medical school at the time. The hospital put additional safety measures in place to try to prevent a similar incident from happening again. However, they let the pathologist continue working at the hospital for several months, with some restrictions on his practice, until he retired.
What Can Victims and Families Do to Fight Back Against Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Cancer misdiagnosis victims and their families can hold negligent hospitals and physicians accountable financially with medical malpractice lawsuits. As attorney Stewart Eisenberg explains in this video below, our firm has experience successfully uncovering the truth in failure to diagnose cancer cases.
