Maine mom awarded $17M jury verdict after her bladder was removed by mistake

A mom in Maine has been awarded a $17 million verdict after a surgery to remove an ovarian cyst resulted in her bladder being extracted instead, in a botched procedure that left her permanently disabled.

According to a press release from her attorneys, Emily Mitchell, 43, a jury in a civil case issued the judgment in her favor after a doctor at Northern Light Inland Hospital performed a laparoscopic procedure on March 1, 2023, when the medical error occurred.

After being presented with evidence and testimony in court, the jury agreed the bladder removal was an act of medical negligence. The mistake was the fault of Danielle Gagnon, MD, who was performing the procedure.

The medical error was not discovered until Mitchell returned to an emergency room at a different hospital days later, in severe pain.

Showing signs of bloating and an inability to urinate, tests showed her bladder was partially removed, something that was not intended to be cut out along with the cyst on her left ovary.

Doctors at Eastern Maine Medical Center had been preparing Mitchell for a second surgery to repair a bladder injury, when they discovered that she didn’t have a functional bladder at all, as Gagnon had removed it.

Despite the egregious nature of the error, the civil case was unable to be settled out of court and was ultimately taken all the way to trial and concluded in a jury verdict.

Before the case went to trial, Mitchell’s attorneys said their client was forced to endure the pain of having tubes put in place for urine to flow directly into her kidneys, resulting in multiple infections.

After several medical procedures, they say the woman is still suffering from ongoing complications, some of which she will have for the rest of her life. Her family has also had to endure the hardship their mother experienced during her longer recovery.

As part of the verdict, Mitchell’s husband will be given $1.25 million of the total for his own pain and suffering.

"For our clients, this isn't just a legal victory—it's the closure they've needed for a long time. They can finally begin to move forward, knowing that what happened to them was seen, heard, and acknowledged,” Susan A. Faunce with Berman and Simmons said in a statement. “This verdict won't undo the pain our clients have endured, but it does offer something they haven't had in a long time: closure.”

“They can finally put this chapter behind them."