[colleen10]

Did any of you happen to see "The Today Show" this morning? They did an interview with a woman, and of course her lawyer, who had a double masectomy because she was told she had breast cancer. Then after the operation the doctor came in and told her they were wrong. She never had breast cancer. They had mixed up her lab results with another womans.

I guess the lawyer said that two doctors and a lab tech all failed to see that the name on the lab results and ID # did not match the patients name and ID #.

[FullMoonMadness]

I saw that this a.m. She was very composed. I think I would be so angry at being maimed for life(her words). Very scary stuff.

[fab4fan]

That segment was on Sunday in my area. This is when I want to say to GWB, "Do you really think that a cap of $250k is just for this woman?"

I think this woman needs to be compensated...a lot. She can't even have reconstructive surg. because of ongoing post-op infections.

What a terrible thing...

[ITSJUSTMEZOE]

Can you imagine the horror that woman has endured in her mind she had cancer and was doing all she could do to save her life.... all to find out that it was a mistake. What do you think you would do? Not only would my lawyer be speaking for me but I would have every person and woman I know of standing up and making a comment too. What happend to her is horrible and an oversight that is just another indication that the healthcare system is filled with problems and I hope this lady sues everyone responsible for the mistake. Maybe then someone will do something about this. Its not the surgeon or anyone that treated her with the "Prospects" she had cancer... Its the people who mislabled or mishandled the biopsy itself(there is a chain of collection, that is documented). Im sure some one on the medical side will Protest this because of the "Second Opinion " clause. I say good luck to the woman... I hate this happend and thankful I wasnt in the case personally but GOD help the person responsible...
Just my thoughts
Zoe

[Lausana]

oh my! That's horrible, the operation of course, but even being made to believe she had cancer. I missed the show--is $250,000 all the compensation she is receiving?

[Cameron67]

so terrible....I pray for the women..that she can carry out life as normal as possible...she has alot going on and that can be terribly weighing on a mind.

[colleen10]

She was extremly composed during the interview. A very strong woman. She said that at first she didn't quite understand what the doctor was telling her. I guess she thought that she had tumors but that they were not cancerous or that they got everything. Then the doctor explained it again to her. She said that it was harder accepting and understanding that she did not have cancer than it was when they first told her that she did have cancer. I guess she had really prepared herself and her 3 sons (1 college, the other two in HS) for the worst.

I guess the lawyers were all still figuring out a settlement and if they would go to court. I think what Fab4Fan was trying to say is that the gov. is trying to pass laws to cap the amount of money awarded to malpractice patients to keep the cost of malpractice insurance down. I guess I really have to say in this instance $250,000.00 wouldn't even begin to cut it if it were me.

The lawyer didn't go into a whole lot of detail about how the mix up was made but he made it sound like basically, it was a very stupid mistake. Like maybe the lab report for Patient 1 had patient 1's correct name and everything but that it had been misplaced in patient 2's file. I don't know for sure but the way he described it made it sound like such a dumb mistake, it never should have happened and that 3 people didn't catch is even worse.

[sunnygirl272]

Originally posted by Lausana
oh my! That's horrible, the operation of course, but even being made to believe she had cancer. I missed the show--is $250,000 all the compensation she is receiving?

$250,000 is the cap that GWB wants to place on malpractice suits....

[susanmary]

What ABOUT the woman who actually HAD the cancer & ended up putting off treatment as SHE was not diagnosed? Did they cover this on the show? What a horrible story...

[fab4fan]

And to add insult to injury, that non-apology "apology" she got from the hospital...basically saying, "Yeah, well our care can't be that bad, because she's still coming here for treatment..." I love how she clarified that...good for her!