Plaintiff Isis Spencer, a 45-year-old African-American mother of three, was diagnosed with grade 2-3 endometrial cancer by the pathologists at Lankenau Medical Center, who recommended a total hysterectomy…medicalmalpracticelawyers, $35M Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Verdict For Cancer Misdiagnosis Leading To Unnecessary Full Hysterectomy
Frightened by the prospect of life altering surgery and her lack of symptoms, Ms. Spencer sought a second opinion from Defendants Penn Medicine and Dr. Tanyi and asked for a repeat endometrial biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.
Dr. Tanyi repeated the biopsy and ordered several additional tests to confirm the cancer diagnosis. The biopsy and tests all came back negative for cancer. In other words, none of the tests ordered by Dr. Tanyi confirmed that Ms. Spencer had cancer. Despite failing to confirm her diagnosis of endometrial cancer, Dr. Tanyi insisted that Ms. Spencer did in fact have endometrial cancer and refused to conduct any additional testing to help explain why the biopsies were conflicting.
Instead, Dr. Tanyi told Ms. Spencer that she could do nothing and allow the cancer to spread unchecked and die or she could immediately undergo a total hysterectomy and live to take care of her children. As a result, on March 8, 2021, Ms. Spencer underwent a total hysterectomy, which included the removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Seven months after her diagnosis and surgery, Ms. Spencer was told by the doctors at Lankenau Medical Center that she never actually had cancer. Ms. Spencer was told that she had been misdiagnosed as a result of her endometrial biopsy slides being contaminated.