Hospital apologizes after erroneous cancer diagnosis left woman without right breast for 9 months
Healthcare leaders are apologizing after a patient was mistakenly diagnosed with breast cancer, leading to an unnecessary mastectomy, and nearly nine-month wait to rectify the issue.
Hospice nurse Brenda Young visited a National Health Service hospital in February 2020 for her routine mammogram, with imaging providers claiming they found invasive cancer on her right side. Surgeons removed her breast, but a tissue sample revealed she did not have the disease, according to recently published reports.
With COVID-19 shutdowns taking effect, the U.K. woman was forced to wait until November 2020 for reconstructive surgery. The NHS has now apologized to Young for the mistake, with an investigation concluding that the original provider failed to seek a second opinion when reading her mammogram.
“The trust has cooperated fully into the investigation and the findings of the report were shared with Ms. Young,” a Barnsley General Hospital spokesperson told Newsweek. “The hospital is always available to discuss any ongoing concerns she may have."
Meanwhile, the 65-year-old woman has connected with Irwin Mitchell and is asking the United Kingdom-based law firm to investigate the incident. The NHS has reportedly labeled the misdiagnosis as a serious incident and has identified actions it plans to take in the future. Young said she experienced “anguish and horror” in the aftermath of the incident, which was exacerbated by the long wait for follow-up treatment.
“I know nothing can make up for what has happened but by speaking out I just hope that I can try and help prevent what happened to me happening to others,” she said in a statement.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.