Woman accuses Florida Hospital of cancer misdiagnosis, unnecessary rectal surgery

WINTER PARK, Fla. — A central Florida woman is suing Florida Hospital for her medical records, which she believes will show a lab mix-up that led to a false cancer diagnosis and removal of a section of her rectum.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, claims she was forced to go through unnecessary surgery.

“My initial reaction was I was terrified,” she told Channel 9’s Julie Salomone. “I was thinking about my family, I was wondering what was going to happen next.”

She now believes she wasn’t a victim of cancer, but of a terrible medical error.

Her petition to the court claims she was "improperly diagnosed" with rectal cancer after her tissue sample from a routine colonoscopy was "mislabled" with another patient's specimen.

She believes her medical records will prove she had "four (4) unnecessary operative procedures", including surgery to remove a wide portion of her rectum.

The documents stated she spent five months believing she had cancer and thinking she might even die before Florida Hospital notified her of the error.

“I hardly slept those five months, I was always wondering trying to get things in order,” she said.

Florida Hospital sent the following statement:  “We are aware of the case, but we don't comment on pending litigation.”

WFTV