A man from Panora, Iowa, is filing a lawsuit after a cancer misdiagnosis made him decide to remove his prostate, thinking that it was going to save his life.
Rickie Lee Huitt, the victim, was forced to make a decision on what he thought was a life-and-death situation: if he will opt to remove his prostate or face cancer head-on. This was after he was diagnosed in 2017 of the life-threatening disease.
Deciding To Remove His Prostate
Huitt was made to believe he was only looking into about five precious years of his life if he will not push through with the surgery. Believing the operation can save him and probably lengthen his days on Earth, albeit it could mean "incontinence and erectile dysfunction," the patient underwent operation on April 3, 2017, to remove his prostate.
The specimen was sent to Mayo Clinic for more tests, where results showed there was nothing abnormal, in short, there was no cancer. Apparently, a big mix-up happened, no thanks to the pathologist at the Iowa Clinic who took full responsibility of the mishap.
Cancer Misdiagnosis Because Of A Glitch
According to court papers, pathologist Joy Trueblood said that it was a "scanner glitch" that had caused for the confusion for the two patients who had prostate biopsies that day. This was what prompted doctors to offer the two abovementioned options to Huitt.
"I'm responsible — it was a horrible situation," Trueblood said in the court documents.
In a statement, the clinic said they immediately apologized to the patients involved after learning of the mistake of one of their personnel. It also promised to make changes so unfortunate events like this will never happen again.
As much as Iowa Clinic was remorseful about the situation and the responsible pathologist accounted for her error that made a man removed his prostate, it is worth nothing that the other person who thought he was cancer-free is also going to be slapped with the truth. The facility said it already informed the other patient of his fate.
