They told her she had cancer and removed her uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes; months later, the laboratory discovered it had made a mistake and that the biopsy belonged to another woman.

Cassandra Barksdale went to her doctor in Atlanta because of abnormal uterine bleeding. She left that appointment with a sentence: high-grade endometrial cancer, aggressive, with little chance of survival if she did not act quickly.

A CT scan showed no tumor. It did not matter. Kaiser Permanente doctors followed the biopsy result, and on May 15, 2025, they removed her uterus, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes and four lymph nodes. Tests from the surgery also found no cancer.

Cassandra spent four months believing she had survived a deadly disease. In September, Kaiser confirmed what her lawsuit now reveals: the cancerous sample was never hers; it belonged to another patient. A labeling error at the laboratory cost her the possibility of having more children. Kaiser Permanente publicly apologized. The lawsuit is moving forward in Georgia courts.