A cervical cancer misdiagnosis due to a faulty or false reading of a Pap smear can have serious consequences, including death that could have been prevented.

As is the case with many forms of cancer, an early diagnosis can mean survival. But what happens when a medical lab misses the signs from a blood test, a biopsy or a Pap smear? Who is liable?

An Avoidable Tragedy

In 2014, the local news on a Palm Beach NBC affiliate reported a heart-wrenching story of a 37-year-old wife and mother of two, who died from cervical cancer.

According to the story, Darian Wisekal started experiencing symptoms in 2008. Her physician ordered a Pap smear, which was then sent to Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), a “big box” chain that performs lab analyses under contract to hospitals across the country. The results came back negative.

Two years later, Darian was still feeling poorly and did not know why. Once again, her doctor ordered a Pap smear, which again was sent to LabCorp – and again, the results were negative.

Ultimately, it was her doctor – not LabCorp – who discovered that Darian had a golf ball-sized tumor of the cervix. By then, it was too late to do anything, and Darian died the following year. Reportedly, the technicians at LabCorp had failed to detect the signs of her illness – a cervical cancer misdiagnosis that cost Darian her life.

The Family Files a Cervical Cancer Lawsuit

In July 2012, Darian’s surviving spouse, John, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against LabCorp and the technician who had examined the Pap smears in question. After two years of litigation, a nine-person jury found that LabCorp was negligent and awarded the Wisekal family a total of $21 million.

The verdict was praised by consumer advocates as well as the Daily Business Review. However, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley took it upon himself to cut the award by nearly 80 percent, calling the jury’s verdict “excessive and unreasonable.”

It took two more court challenges to Hurley’s ruling over 24 months before he finally approved a settlement of $15.8 million.

What Went Wrong?

According to Wisekal’s attorney (as reported in the Palm Beach Post), the technician at LabCorp was given insufficient time by her employers to do a thorough analysis.

During the initial trial, the technician testified that she was required to analyze between 80 and 85 slides a day. That meant she allegedly had less than five minutes to analyze approximately 70,000 cells contained in each slide.

What this indicates is that, as is too often the case, the profit motive may take priority over a patient’s life.

Unfortunately, Darian Wisekal is not the only casualty of a false negative Pap smear. A similar story was reported in the U.K. Daily Mail. In that story, 38-year-old Louise Gleadell’s complaints were ignored by her doctor, who attributed her symptoms to breastfeeding and post-partum issues after Pap smears failed to detect signs of cancer. By the time she was correctly diagnosed, the cancer had spread – and it was too late to save her life.

These are but two examples of how the consequences of a cervical cancer misdiagnosis can be fatal. Had they been diagnosed earlier, Darian and Louise might still be alive today.