Tennessee woman awarded $3.45M after she was disfigured by 'unnecessary' surgery
A Tennessee woman won a $3.45 million lawsuit after she was left with a "completely unnecessary" and "permanent" disfigurement from surgery.
Kellianne Goodnight said doctors at the Chattanooga Skin and Cancer Clinic on Shallowford Road in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2017 removed several layers of her skin just above the bridge of her nose while performing a Mohr's surgery. The doctors allegedly told her the layers were filled with cancer cells, but they were not.
In the Mohr's surgery, the doctors would remove a layer of tissue at the crease of Goodnight's nose and face and examine it microscopically to figure out if there were cancer cells, according to the lawsuit, WZTV reported.
If cancer cells are found, the doctors would remove another layer of tissue and examine it, and repeat this process until they found a layer that did not have cancer cells.
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Doctor Mark G. Tusa and nurse practitioner Sharon Ann Brown told Goodnight that they had to remove a total of seven layers of tissue. But a third-party examination of the tissues found that none of the layers removed had any sign of skin cancer, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also said Tusa "never told the Plaintiff she had an additional or changed diagnosis."
Later, after a followup procedure that lasted roughly eight hours, Goodnight specifically asked for amplifying information. She was informed that the cancer had spread, was the size of a baseball and was located under her nose and mouth.
Based on opinions that the pathologist provided, Tusa made a misinterpretation that the layers contained basal cell carcinoma, when they did not.
"Dr. Tusa created a huge, deep, irreparable and completely unnecessary crater on Kelliane Goodnight's face," the lawsuit said.
The procedure left Goodnight with "permanent disfigurement of her face as well as structural damage to the muscles which underlie her face," according to the lawsuit.
"The unnecessary wound created by Dr. Tusa has required several surgeries, and it is anticipated that she will require several more surgeries in the future to attempt to correct this medical error," it continues.
For months after the surgery, Goodnight "could not go out in public without a mask because of the embarrassment and humiliation of having a devastating and horrendous wound created on her face."
The lawsuit also said Goodnight lost her job at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee due to the procedure.
Last week, Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Michael Sharp ruled in favor of Goodnight and awarded her nearly $3.45 million, including $800,000 for past pain and suffering, $500,000 for future pain and suffering, $1,500,000 for permanent impairment and disfigurement, $100,000 for the past loss of the ability to enjoy life, $400,000 for the future ability to enjoy life and nearly $150,000 for past medical care and services.