A Georgia woman alleges that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy. All because of a labeling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her attorneys filed a lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente on Tuesday (August 4). She alleges the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain and is seeking damages.
According to the lawsuit, another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly labeled as belonging to Cassandra Barksdale. As a result, at age 43, she underwent a full hysterectomy on May 15, 2025. Additionally, doctors told her she would get instructions about chemotherapy.
Then, in September, Cassandra Barksdale learned the tissue sample that was showing an aggressive form of endometrial uterine cancer belonged to different patient. A DNA analysis confirmed this, per the lawsuit. It’s unclear how the mix-up occurred.
“She came into Kaiser Permanente looking for answers, and she left with a diagnosis that did not belong to her. And every step that was taken after that was based off of misinformation,” her attorney Shannan Young said.
The Georgia lawsuit asks for unspecified damages. “There’s no amount of money that’s going to return back to her, her healthy organs, or erase the experiences and the pain that she’s had. But our justice system recognizes that when somebody’s negligence harms another person, accountability requires more than ‘I’m sorry,'” Young added.
Cassandra Barksdale went to Kaiser Permanente Southwood Medical Center in Jonesboro, Georgia, in early 2025. She was seeking treatment for heavy bleeding and fibroids, which are noncancerous growths in and around the uterus. She underwent a biopsy on March 10, 2025.
Barksdale said she got the biopsy results on March 17, 2025. So, for months, she lived believing she had an aggressive type of cancer. The diagnosis sent her and her sons into a deep depression.
“I even started making funeral plans with them to let them know, you know, if I don’t make it out, this is what I want done,” Barksdale said.
Representatives for Kaiser Permanente wrote in a statement that, “Ms. Barksdale should not have experienced this.”
“We have highly trained staff and very thorough processes in place to prevent errors like this from taking place. After this occurred last year, we took immediate steps to ensure it could not happen again. We realize the impact of this incident and are committed to working with Ms. Barksdale and her counsel to resolve this in the most fair and accountable way we can.”
Because of privacy laws, information about the other patient — including what happened to her and whether cancer treatment was delayed — isn’t publicly available.
Associated Press writers Kim Chandler and Emilie Megnien contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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