Woman Gets $198K for Mastectomies She Didn't Need

Breasts were removed though she didn't have cancer
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 11, 2010 6:42 AM CDT
Woman Gets $198K for Mastectomies She Didn't Need
A California woman whose breasts were removed even though she didn't have cancer has won a lawsuit.   (Shutter Stock)

A California woman who underwent a double mastectomy and later discovered she didn't have breast cancer will be paid $198,000 after winning a medical malpractice lawsuit. Ana Jimenez-Salgado had her breasts surgically removed at a Los Angeles county hospital after outside pathologists said the cells obtained from an August 2007 biopsy were cancerous. When she later underwent reconstructive surgery, the hospital's pathologists examined the issue and concluded she never had breast cancer.

In her lawsuit, Jimenez-Salgado alleged the hospital was negligent in relying on the external pathologists, and that her breast reconstruction was negligently performed. The county admitted that it failed to review her biopsy specimens before deciding on the mastectomy.
(More mastectomy stories.)

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