Florida Hospital Mixes Up Elderly Woman’s Lab Results Before Removing Half Of Her Rectum
A 68-year-old patient at Florida Hospital in Orlando claims that a misdiagnosis by doctors led to half of her rectum being removed this past January. According to a lawsuit filed this past Tuesday, the unidentified elderly woman is looking to obtain medical records proving that tissue samples taken during a routine colonoscopy were mixed up with a man suffering from rectal cancer.
Although the woman said she had a history of good health, participated in physical activity regularly, and took all of her medication, she decided to have a colonoscopy last December at her husband’s request. Following an apparent lab mix-up, the woman received the terrifying news that she was suffering from an aggressive form of cancer.
"I really thought I was dying for many months," she told the Orlando Sentinel in a phone interview. "I literally had my daughter drive down from Minnesota for Christmas because we all thought this was probably the last Christmas we would be together."
Pre-operative biopsies performed prior to the surgery in hopes of identifying the cancer’s exact location came back negative, but doctors chose to go through with the operation. Only after her doctors evaluated the tissue removed during surgery did they realize she was actually cancer-free. While having her colonoscopy results mixed up was understandably upsetting, finding out she was not suffering from the potentially fatal form of cancer via DNA testing was a memorable phone call.
"I was euphoric. I felt like a big, heavy shroud had been taken away from me," she said. "I've still got the phone message. I've put the phone away so I won't lose it."
When the woman and her lawyer met with Florida Hospital officials just last month, she said that three hospital managers were extremely apologetic over the mix-up. However, the lawsuit claims the hospital has failed to hand over documents proving their mistake and how doctors came to the conclusion that she was cancer-free.
“We are aware of the case, but we don't comment on pending litigation,” Florida Hospital said in a statement to WFTV.