Georgia woman had unnecessary hysterectomy after lab mixup and cancer misdiagnosis, lawsuit says - NBC News

An Atlanta-area woman alleges that negligent handling of a tissue sample led to her being misdiagnosed with an aggressive form of uterine cancer and undergoing a full hysterectomy when she was 43. Cassandra Barksdale was forced into premature menopause after doctors removed her cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries last year, according to a lawsuit filed in Clayton County, Georgia. The lawsuit names Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Permanente Insurance Co. as defendants, in addition to lab technicians believed to have handled Barksdale’s sample. She went to her doctor at a Kaiser Permanente center in January 2025 with concerns about abnormal uterine bleeding and uterine fibroids, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says she was referred for a consultation and had an endometrial tissue biopsy in March 2025. That tissue was submitted to an outside lab, Quest Diagnostics, for pathology. Barksdale was told on March 17, 2025, that she had high-grade, aggressive endometrial uterine cancer, the lawsuit says. She underwent a CT scan, which the suit alleges showed no signs of cancer, and was referred to a doctor at Northside Hospital Atlanta, the suit says. Barksdale’s new doctor recommended a total hysterectomy, the removal of her ovaries and lymph node biopsies based on her previous imaging records and pathology reports, according to the lawsuit. But testing on Barksdale’s tissue after her surgery showed no signs of cancer or malignancy “in the entire endometrial cavity,” the suit says. Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Tuesday that it was committed to working with Barksdale to resolve the matter in “the most fair and accountable way we can.” “Ms. Barksdale should not have experienced this. We have highly trained staff and very thorough processes in place to prevent errors like this from taking place,” the company said. “After this occurred last year, we took immediate steps to ensure it could not happen again.” Barksdale told reporters Tuesday that the ordeal had a profound effect on her family, as they believed she had up to only five years to live. “My sons began getting into a deep depression,” she said. “It took a big hold over my family.” The lawsuit alleges that employees at Kaiser Permanente mishandled the tissue sample Barksdale gave in March 2025 before it was sent to Quest Diagnostics. Quest did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not being sued by Barksdale or accused of wrongdoing in the misdiagnosis. Roderick Edmond, one of the attorneys representing Barksdale, said the litigation process would reveal more about the incident and whether someone else was affected. “We don’t know that somebody else’s tissue was mislabeled, but that’s a possibility,” Edmond said. “And if it was, you have to ask yourself, how long? What’s the status of this person who possibly went along thinking everything was OK for seven months?” Barksdale is seeking at least $10,000 in damages and a jury trial.