24-pound tumor misdiagnosed as pregnancy

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BARCELONA, Spain, March 18 (UPI) -- A woman in Barcelona, Spain, is taking legal action against a hospital where doctors misdiagnosed a 24-pound, cancerous uterine tumor as a late-term pregnancy.

The woman, whose name has not been released, told ThinkSpain she went to a hospital emergency room suffering from excruciating abdominal pain, only to be "treated with contempt."

She alleges doctors quipped, "Haven't you ever heard of contraception?" and told her she was in the advanced stages of pregnancy, chalking her pains up to a panic attack. After two negative pregnancy tests, she returned to the hospital and urged doctors to examine her further, ThinkSpain reported Saturday.

When she was finally given an ultrasound, she said, "the doctor said, 'Gosh, what a huge cyst." She is now undergoing chemotherapy, and has opened a case with the patients' ombudsman.