A woman who has had annual negative Pap smear tests for a certain number of years, yet still receives a cervical cancer misdiagnosis may have a medical malpractice claim. This claim may be filed against the provider that failed to detect the cancerous cells on a Pap smear test.

It’s rare for a woman who gets regular Pap smears to get a cervical cancer misdiagnosis. Despite regular Pap smear testing, however, cervical cancer may occur. Negligence may be the reason why women wind up experiencing a cervical cancer misdiagnosis.

The Papanicolaou (Pap) test, or cervical smear, is a test for cervical cancer. It is one of the most common types of laboratory testing performed in the U.S. In fact, before the test’s introduction more than 60 years ago, cervical cancer used to be a common cause of cancer death in women.

With the introduction of the Pap smear test, however, death among women from cervical cancer dropped drastically. The Pap smear test is painless, inexpensive and accurate. And it helps detect cervical cancer and other precursors to cervical cancer.

However, this was not the case for a Florida woman who suffered from a cervical cancer misdiagnosis and died in 2011, despite receiving a negative Pap smear test result that did not detect any cancerous cells.

In filing the medical malpractice lawsuit, her husband sued the medical lab claiming negligence. In 2014, a jury found the medical lab guilty and awarded the woman’s family $15.8 million for wrongful death.

What Causes a Cervical Cancer Misdiagnosis?

According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 13,240 invasive cervical cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 2018. It also estimates that 4,170 women will die from cervical cancer.

However, the American Cancer Society also says, “Although the Pap test has been more successful than any other screening test in preventing a cancer, it’s not perfect. One of the limitations of the Pap test is that the results need to be examined by the human eye, so an accurate analysis of the hundreds of thousands of cells in each sample is not always possible.”

Additionally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were approximately 17.4 million Pap tests ordered or provided during physician office visits and approximately 3.5 million Pap tests that were ordered throughout hospital outpatient departments.

Due to such staggering numbers, it becomes difficult for Pap tests to become examined by the human eye with accuracy. It could also be that a cervical cancer misdiagnosis and even missed cervical cancer cases are due to overworked lab technicians.

Some potentially negligent practices that could result in a cervical cancer misdiagnosis may include; improper Pap smear processing (including identification, staining, and review of slides); overwork or inexperience of cytotechnologists; improper interpretation by cytotechnologist/pathologist; and improper comments made by cytotechnologist/pathologist.