A Georgia mother says a devastating cancer diagnosis turned out to be wrong, and that the error led to the unnecessary removal of her ovaries and other reproductive organs.
Cassandra Barksdale, 43, filed a lawsuit against healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente on August 4, alleging she was incorrectly told she had an aggressive form of uterine cancer and underwent major surgery before learning the diagnosis had been made in error.
According to the complaint, Barksdale was informed she had a serious cancer that required urgent treatment. She later found out she did not have the disease and had not been facing a shortened life expectancy.
The lawsuit claims that tissue belonging to another patient was mistakenly identified as Barksdale’s, leading doctors to base treatment decisions on the wrong test results.
After discovering what had allegedly happened, Barksdale also became concerned that the patient whose specimen was involved may have been given incorrect information about their own health.
Legal filings say she visited Kaiser Permanente’s Southwood Medical Center in Jonesboro in January 2025 after experiencing heavy bleeding and fibroids. Two months later, in March 2025, she underwent an endometrial tissue biopsy.
She was then told she had aggressive endometrial uterine cancer, with doctors recommending immediate treatment because of how severe it was thought to be.
The suit states that, in May, she underwent a full hysterectomy. Her uterus, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes and four lymph nodes were removed.
But testing carried out on the tissue taken during that operation allegedly found no cancer cells at all.
“Her surgical treatment for cancer was unnecessary. Her loss of her ovaries was unnecessary. The complete extinguishing of her ability to have more biological children was unnecessary,” her attorney Roderick Edmond told CBS.
According to the lawsuit, four months after the surgery, in September 2025, Kaiser Permanente informed Barksdale that the original cancer diagnosis should be disregarded, after she and her family had already endured weeks of fear and uncertainty.
“My sons went into a deep depression,” Barksdale revealed at a press conference.
“I had to contact my kids to let them know that I have five years to live and that I’m going to die because I have aggressive cancer.
“I started contacting other attorneys to try to get trust funds so that way I could leave my house and have trust for my kids. It took a big hold over my family.”
“The first thing that came to mind, I thought I was going to die, so I started researching,” Barksdale said per CBS. “When I researched it, it said that I have up to five years to live. 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.”
She said the experience left her ‘very angry and sad, and I was very concerned about the other person, and also it messed with me mentally’. Barksdale also revealed that the ordeal sent her into a deep depression and that she experienced suicidal thoughts after believing she had a terminal illness.
Barksdale added that the ordeal led her to seek counseling.
“This woman didn’t ask for this. It came to her. She just came for regular help, and it came to her. What does she want? She wants accountability,” said Edmond.
In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said that Barksdale “should not have experienced this” and stated that it has highly trained staff and thorough processes in place to prevent errors. The company added that after the incident, it took immediate steps to ensure a similar error could not happen again.
The lawsuit, filed in the State Court of Clayton County, names Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Permanente Insurance Company, and senior laboratory information analyst Cecelia Prestridge. It seeks compensatory damages exceeding $10,000 for life-altering medical harm and requests a jury trial.