Woman sues over cancer diagnosis error

LONG BEACH, N.Y., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A 35-year-old New York woman has filed a lawsuit against the healthcare group that incorrectly diagnosed her with cancer due to a mislabeled tissue sample.

In her lawsuit against the CBLPath medical group, single mother Darrie Eason is seeking an undisclosed amount of money for having to undergo a double mastectomy as a result of the inaccurate diagnosis, New York Newsday reported Wednesday.

"I didn't know what to believe," Eason said of the medical mix-up. "They told me I had cancer and now they're telling me I didn't. I didn't know if the next day they were going to call me and say, 'Sorry, we made a mistake, you really do have cancer.'"

A CBLPath chief executive said the technician responsible for the labeling error is no longer an employee due to undisclosed reasons.

Eason's attorney, Steven E. Pegalis, told the Long Island newspaper that the company must be held accountable even though a state investigation found "no systematic problems" at the lab.

"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?"