JONESBORO, GA — A newly filed lawsuit claims an Atlanta woman underwent a total hysterectomy after she was wrongly diagnosed with high-grade uterine cancer because of an alleged tissue sample mix-up.
Cassandra Barksdale, 43, filed a lawsuit against multiple parties, including Kaiser Permanente, claiming a tissue sample error led doctors to believe she had cancer.
According to the complaint, Barksdale visited Kaiser Permanente Southwood Medical Center in Jonesboro on March 10, 2025, because of fibroids and heavy uterine bleeding. The lawsuit alleges a tissue sample collected from another patient with aggressive endometrial uterine cancer was mistakenly labeled as belonging to Barksdale before being sent to Quest Diagnostics for testing.
The complaint says Barksdale was notified on March 17 that she had cancer and needed additional testing.
According to the lawsuit, Barksdale later met with a surgical oncologist at Northside Hospital who recommended a total hysterectomy based on the diagnosis. She underwent surgery on May 15, with doctors removing her uterus, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes and four lymph nodes.
“Everyday, it felt like my days were shortened because of aggressive cancer,” Barksdale said. “I had to contact my kids to let them know that I have five years to live and I’m going to die because I have aggressive cancer. It was terrifying, I was stuck.”
The lawsuit alleges testing after the surgery found no malignant cells in the removed tissue. According to the complaint, Barksdale later learned DNA testing showed the cancerous tissue sample did not belong to her and “belongs to a different patient.”
Barksdale said she was worried.
“It was like a pause for a minute, I was stuck. I was like I didn’t have cancer, so where is the person that do have cancer. So I was worried about the person who had cancer as well,” she said.
“Her surgical treatment for cancer was unnecessary. Her loss of her ovaries was unnecessary,” her attorney said.
The complaint says Barksdale spent months believing she had an aggressive form of cancer and waiting for information about possible treatment.
Barksdale is seeking at least $10,000 in damages, along with legal fees, according to the lawsuit.
Kaiser Permanente released the following statement:
“Our most important responsibility is to safely, expertly and compassionately care for the people who entrust us with their health. If we make a mistake, it can have profound effects. 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 working with Ms. Barksdale and her counsel to resolve this in the most fair and accountable way we can.”
WSB Radio’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story.