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Eduvigis Rodriguez had her left breast removed and had to deal with the complications after the surgery, only to find out that she never had breast cancer in the first place, according to a medical malpractice suit.
After Rodriguez went to Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital to have a lump on her breast examined, Dr. Jean Marc-Cohen allegedly misinterpreted the results and told her that she had breast cancer when, in fact, she had sclerosing adenosis, a form of benign extra breast tissue.
Then, Rodriguez was sent to Lenox Hill Hospital, which has a policy of reviewing all pathology reports before major surgery, but that review allegedly never took place, and the surgery went forward anyway, with the surgeon, Dr. Magdi Bebawi, signing a form that read, “I certify that outside pathology slides have been reviewed by the hospital’s pathology department,” according to the suit.
However, after the surgery, Bebawi realized the mistake when a routine post-surgery biopsy showed that there was no cancer in the removed tissue.
“After the surgery, when I was told that the review of the biopsy showed no cancer, I immediately called her and made her aware that I am very sorry and I feel very bad that we did this procedure for no cancer,” Bebawi said, adding, “I did the surgery based on the pathology report which I received.”
Rodriguez’s lawyer, Andrew Carboy, says that Bebawi and the staff at Lenox Hill as well as Mount Sinai Beth Israel are to blame for all that Rodriguez has endured, including the complications she suffered after the procedure. She had to undergo further procedures because of a pulmonary embolism, or blood clots in her lungs, and a surgical hernia.
“I want justice, and I want explanations. I do not want to see this happen to anyone else. I had confidence in the surgeon and the hospitals, but I cannot believe all the mistakes that were made,” Rodriguez said.
