Woman who was misdiagnosed with cancer underwent hysterectomy before lab mix-up uncovered
A mother-of-two who'd told her family she was going to die from an aggressive cancer claims botched test results resulted in her needlessly having her ovaries removed.
Cassandra Barksdale, 43, sued healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente yesterday (August 4), claiming she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of uterine cancer. After the irreversible treatment, she learned it had all been a mistake.
Not only did she not have the cancer which would require her to have her uterus removed, but she also didn't have just years left to live.
Her lawsuit alleges another patient's tissue specimen was mistakenly attributed to her.
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After finding out this new information, Barksdale was left worried for the person whose test results had allegedly been switched with hers, who may have falsely received an all-clear.
Per the filing, Barksdale attended Kaiser Permanente's Southwood campus in Jonesboro in March 2025 due to experiencing heavy bleeding and fibroids.
After a biopsy was taken, she says she was then diagnosed with an aggressive endometrial uterine cancer, requiring immediate action due to its severity.
The lawsuit claims Kaiser Permanente's doctors recommended surgery, and in May, she had a full hysterectomy, as her uterus, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes and four lymph nodes were taken out.
After the surgery, testing on the tissue removed during surgery allegedly found no cancer cells contained in the biopsy.
"Her surgical treatment for cancer was unnecessary. Her loss of her ovaries was unnecessary. The complete extinguishing of her ability to have more biological children was unnecessary," her attorney Roderick Edmond told CBS.
Months later, Barksdale said she was told that her cancer diagnosis should be disregarded, despite having been through an emotional rollercoaster for weeks.
“My sons went into a deep depression,” Barksdale revealed at a press conference.
“I had to contact my kids to let them know that I have five years to live and that I’m going to die because I have aggressive cancer.
“I started contacting other attorneys to try to get trust funds so that way I could leave my house and have trust for my kids. It took a big hold over my family.”
"The first thing that came to mind, I thought I was going to die, so I started researching," Barksdale said per CBS. "When I researched it, it said that I have up to five years to live. I had to contact my kids to let them know that I have five years to live, and I'm going to die because I have aggressive cancer."
She explained the misdiagnosis made her 'very angry and sad, and I was very concerned about the other person, and also it messed with me mentally'.
According to her, it put her in counseling.
"This woman didn't ask for this. It came to her. She just came for regular help, and it came to her. What does she want? She wants accountability," said Edmond.
UNILAD reached out to Kaiser Permanente for comment.
Britt Jones