A US man has launched a lawsuit after a hospital somehow mislaid the tumour they had removed from his bladder, and which had been sent for testing because it was possibly malignant.
Jeremy Morton-Maxson (39) whose family has a history of bladder cancer, had gone to doctors about painful urinary issues.
After waiting five months to see a specialist at UW Medicine in Seattle, he was told in August 2022 that there was a tumour on his bladder and that it was likely to be cancer, according to the lawsuit.
Morton-Maxson was urged to have prompt surgery to remove the mass so that the hospital’s pathology department could determine if it were malignant, said his attorney, Austin Neff.
He did just that two days later at UW Medicine Northwest, reports USA Today.
However, he waited weeks for the call from his doctor, eventually sending daily messages and making frequent phone calls to the clinic, becoming increasingly panicked at the lack of response.
“When I didn’t hear back, I began calling the urologist, but … gone are the days when you can actually reach anyone on the phone,” he said.
Finally, in early September he got the call he had been dreading, only to hear that UW Medicine had lost the tumour before it could be analysed, something they formally admitted in later court documents.
“If the tumour were malignant, a pathology report would have told us how aggressive the cancer is and help his care team make critical decisions, including what targeted therapies would have served Jeremy best,” Neff said. “But now, he is left with nothing but bad options.”
More questions than answers
Morton-Maxson was offered two courses of action: undergo preventative chemotherapy in case the tumour was malignant after all, or have invasive diagnostic procedures every 60 days to re-examine the inside of his bladder.
Being very physically active, he did not find either course of action “acceptable”, especially considering the doctor had told him post-surgery that she believed she had “got all” of the tumour, meaning intervention via intense chemotherapy might not even be necessary.
While UW Medicine did admit to losing the tumour, they have denied other allegations made in the suit, according to court documents, including injury caused to Morton-Maxson.
In a statement to USA Today, UW spokeswoman Susan Gregg said the hospital was unable to comment on specifics regarding pending litigation, but that “UW Medicine cares deeply about our patients and takes concerns seriously”.
The deciding factor for Morton-Maxson in filing the suit was their apparent unwillingness to address the issue.
“Had UW owned up to their error and apologised, we would not be here today,” he said.
“A formal apology and a full explanation from hospital administration would have gone a long way,” said his lawyer. “Unfortunately, UW chose silence.”
Morton-Maxson chose to forgo chemo and stick with a diagnostic procedure performed every 60 days. With the lawsuit, he is seeking monetary damages from UW to compensate for the anguish caused.
“I understand that we all make mistakes – I know how understaffed, overworked and underpaid hospital nurses and technicians are…But in those instances, you need to hold up your hand and say, ‘I messed up and I am sorry.’ No one from UW has ever offered me an apology.”
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