The New York Injury & Malpractice Law Firm, P.C. recovered $237,500 for the misdiagnosis of uterine cancer in a 57 year old female in Albany County, New York.

Following an abnormal pap smear, the patient underwent an endometrial biopsy to evaluate for cancer in the inner lining of the uterus. The patient was informed that the biopsy revealed that she had high grade endometrial cancer and had to undergo a complete hysterectomy (removal of her uterus). The patient underwent the hysterectomy and three weeks after the operation, she was informed that the final pathology revealed no residual cancer. The patient never had cancer.

DNA “fingerprinting” of the tissue specimens revealed that the original uterine biopsy had been performed using a sample from another patient, i.e., “It was later determined that her [patient] biopsy was a contaminate from another patient.” The original diagnosis of a high grade endometrial cancer was based upon a pathology slide from a male patient, who had testicular cancer. The misplaced tissue specimens led to the incorrect diagnosis of endometrial cancer and the unnecessary removal of the patient’s uterus. Additionally, the patient believed that she had stage four uterine cancer for several weeks.