Halifax lawyer preparing lawsuit for mastectomy mix up
Posted Aug 13, 2013 10:44:42 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Halifax lawyer is preparing to file a civil action lawsuit for the woman who had an unnecessary mastectomy done by Capital Health.
Ray Wagner tells Maritime Morning his client is in awe that she was diagnosed and treated for cancer when she didn’t have it.
“She was initially angry that she went through all of the emotions of being diagnosed with cancer,” said Wagner. “She was angry with the fact that she lost her breast and will have to deal with the scars for the rest of her life, both emotionally and physically.”
Wagner says she was informed about the mistake two months after the procedure. He says the doctor was very upfront about the mix up, and she was happy she was notified in a timely manner.
“She was obviously happy to know she didn’t have cancer, but she was obviously very distraught that she went through all of these unnecessary procedures.”
He hopes this will update the pathology labs procedures so a mistake like this won’t happen again.
Capital Health apologized for the mistakes Monday, which also included another patient undergoing a needless biopsy. Chris Power of the Capital District Health Authority says the mastectomy occurred in late April when pathology results were switched on charts for two patients.
