Georgia woman says she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and had hysterectomy due to labeling error

Georgia woman says she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and had hysterectomy due to labeling error 1 of 4 | Cassandra Barksdale, who says she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer due to a tissue labelling mistake, poses at her attorney’s office in Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilie Megnien) 2 of 4 | Shannan Young reviewing Cassandra Barksdale’s dermatopathology report at her office in Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilie Megnien) 3 of 4 | Signs mark the exterior of Kaiser Permanente medical center in Jonesboro, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilie Megnien) 4 of 4 | Cassandra Barksdale, left, who says she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer due to a tissue labelling mistake, poses with her lawyer Shannan Young in Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilie Megnien) By KIM CHANDLER and EMILIE MEGNIEN Updated 11:49 PM MESZ, August 6, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Atlanta (AP) — An Atlanta-area woman alleges that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labeling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. According to the lawsuit, another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly labeled as belonging to Barksdale, who at age 43 then underwent a full hysterectomy on May 15, 2025, and was told she would get instructions about chemotherapy. It’s unclear how the mix-up occurred. In September, Barksdale was informed that a DNA analysis found the tissue sample showing an aggressive form of endometrial uterine cancer belonged to a different patient and not to her, the lawsuit says. “She came into Kaiser Permanente looking for answers, and she left with a diagnosis that did not belong to her. And every step that was taken after that was based off of misinformation,” her attorney Shannan Young said. Barksdale went to Kaiser Permanente Southwood Medical Center in Jonesboro, Georgia, in early 2025 to seek treatment for heavy bleeding and fibroids, which are noncancerous growths in and around the uterus. She underwent a biopsy on March 10, 2025. Barksdale said that after she got the biopsy results on March 17, 2025, she lived for months believing she had an aggressive type of cancer, sending her and her sons into a deep depression. Testing is underway on vaccines to intercept brewing colon cancer before it takes root 2 MIN READ Johnson & Johnson proposes $5.5 billion talc settlement to end marathon legal fight 3 MIN READ Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, treated for skin cancer 3 MIN READ “I even started making funeral plans with them to let them know, you know, if I don’t make it out, this is what I want done,” Barksdale said. Representatives for Kaiser Permanente wrote in a statement that, “Ms. Barksdale should not have experienced this.” “We have highly trained staff and very thorough processes in place to prevent errors like this from taking place. After this occurred last year, we took immediate steps to ensure it could not happen again. We realize the impact of this incident and are committed to working with Ms. Barksdale and her counsel to resolve this in the most fair and accountable way we can.” Because of privacy laws, information about the other patient — including what happened to her and whether cancer treatment was delayed — isn’t publicly available. It is not clear just how often pathology samples are mislabeled or mixed-up during medical testing. An Ohio woman filed a similar lawsuit saying a 2019 error on a biopsy led to a misdiagnosis of lung cancer and unneeded surgery. Researchers studying prostate cancer discovered three cases of biopsy sample misidentification over two years, according to a 2011 research paper. Labs have turned to a number of best practices to try and prevent errors, including barcode systems for specimen labeling and point-of-care testing. “There’s no amount of money that’s going to return back to her, her healthy organs, or erase the experiences and the pain that she’s had. But our justice system recognizes that when somebody’s negligence harms another person, accountability requires more than ‘I’m sorry,’” Young said.