After double masectomy, woman learns she didn't have cancer

(Long Beach - WABC, October 3, 2007) - A Long Island woman who underwent a double masectomy after learning she had breast cancer was then told the lab made an error and there was no cancer.

Darrie Eason, a 35-year-old single mother from Long Beach, is now suing.

Her attorney says Eason was the victim of a mix-up at the the CBLPath medical lab in Rye Brook. Eason filed a lawsuit against the facility in State Supreme Court in Mineola last month seeking an undisclosed sum of money.

A state report blames the mix-up on a technician who admitted cutting corners while labeling tissue specimens.

CBLPath chief executive William Curtis said he was familiar with Eason's, case but could not speak about any of his company's patients because of federal privacy laws. He said the doctor who signed off on Eason's diagnosis no longer works for the company.

He said the technician responsible for the mix-up also is no longer with the company.

Attorney Steven Pegalis, of Lake Success, says people must be able to trust a medical lab.

Speaking as a QA manager in the medical field, I hope the state asks the next "why" in their root cause analysis. WHY did the technician cut corners in labeling specimens? Were they lazy? Were they rushed? Is the lab working beyond its capacity to handle the number of samples submitted, e.g., not enough techs or not enough equipment?

You can't do much about the laziness issue, beyond making sure the door hits them on the gluteus on the way out. I've seen that one in action (a co-worker who was pencil-whipping analytical chem testing). But it's management's responsibility, by law, to supply adequate resources for doing the work, and that includes having enough workers.

Afte my comment about Frivolous lawsuits, I want to respond that I think she should sue them into oblivion.

This type of case alone is why I was opposed to Texas' Constitutional Amendment capping Punitive damages in Med Mal cases to $250,000.

I was at an Advanced Trial Skills CLE, and they did a mock voir dire. I volunteered to be a venireperson. The Plaintiff's asked if anyone had a dollar amount in their head above which they would not be able to go in awarding damages. I raised my hand. When she questioned me further about what that amount was, I said 1 Billion Dollars. Afterward she said that normally she would attempt to strike anyone for cause who had a hardline figure, but in my case, she said she would have liked to have me on her jury.

Another horrific thought - if this was a mislabeling that transposed two samples, there's another woman out there who doesn't know she has breast cancer!

There is no circle in Hell deep enough for whoever caused this error, whether the tech alone or the lab bosses.