Lab Mislabeling Caused Women to Get Mastectomy

Jenny Albano

Contributor

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At first doctors told Darrie Eason that she had breast cancer, but then four months later, after she had already completed a double mastectomy, the doctors told her that the results had been a mistake. Apparently her tissue sample had been mislabeled at CBLPath medical lab in Rye Brook.

Eason sued CBLPath in state supreme court in Mineola last month, seeking an undisclosed sum of money. The 1 1/2 -page state report, issued in August 2006 to CBLPath, refers to a company report that blamed the mix-up on a technician who admitted cutting corners while labeling tissue specimens.

Eason's attorney, Steven E. Pegalis, says that the lab must be held responsible for the mistake. "You kind of assume that if a lab diagnoses you as having cancer, you've got it," he said. "How do you have faith and trust in systems that are supposed to be infallible?".

Eason decided not to sue her doctors because they had received the incorrect diagnosis and they were unable to know that the data was incorrect.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.