A Washington state county court on Feb. 28 dismissed a lawsuit filed against UW Medicine, which accused the Seattle-based system of losing a patient's tumor before it could be tested for cancer.
In June 2023, a patient accused the system and 10 of its employees of medical negligence. The plaintiff, 39-year-old Jeremy Morton-Maxson, said painful urinary issues prompted a surgical removal of a tumor in his bladder, according to court documents.
The lawsuit claims that in mid-2023, a urologist said the tumor was "likely cancer." Two days later, the tumor was removed at UW Medical Center-Northwest in Seattle. A month and a half after the surgery, Mr. Morton-Maxson said his urologist called and told him the sample was lost before it could be analyzed.
It's unclear whether he has cancer.
The system confirmed the tumor did not make it to the pathology team for cancer tests and, "to date, [the hospital] has been unable to locate this specimen." UW Medicine denied most of the other allegations, including that the urologist said the tumor was "likely cancer" and that Mr. Morton-Maxson was not given a post-surgery treatment plan.
About seven months after the lawsuit was filed, the case was dismissed without a trial and "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be retried and the decision is final.
A UW Medicine spokesperson declined to comment on the case.