G2 News-At-A-Glance: LabCorp Sued for Allegedly Misreading a Pap Smear

A family member of a cervical cancer victim, Sharon Woodrum, is suing Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) and the physician who treated her because of an allegedly misread Pap smear test that resulted in her cancer going undetected for over a year. According to an article in the West Virginia Record, Dorothy Craig was a patient of Dr. Rick L. Houndersheldt on Dec. 21, 2009, when she visited his office because she was experiencing vaginal bleeding. Apparently, Craig had a history of cervical cancer but that information was not included with the requisition for the Pap smear, which was referred to LabCorp. The report for the test gave a diagnosis of “negative for intraepithelial lesion and malignancy.” Almost a year and a half later, Craig was still complaining of vaginal bleeding and was referred by Houndersheldt to a gynecologist. She was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and referred to Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center in Huntington, W.Va., for treatment but her treatment options were limited by that time. Woodrum claims LabCorp was negligent and misread the Pap test and that Houndersheldt should have known of Craig’s history of cervical cancer and reported that information to LabCorp when he submitted the slide for interpretation. She is suing for compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest.