Lawsuit: Hysterectomy Unnecessary

A woman filed suit Thursday claiming she had an unnecessary hysterectomy because a hospital certified thousands of Pap smears that never were reviewed by doctors.

Dona Lischner, 51, is the third woman to sue but the first to claim actual harm by the handling of Pap smear tests at the University of Pittsburgh's Magee-Womens Hospital.

Lischner, of suburban Mount Lebanon, says five tests reviewed by the hospital since 1996 had errors and at least three missed abnormal cells that would have indicated she had cervical cancer.

When her cancer was eventually detected in 2001, she underwent a hysterectomy which could have been avoided had her Pap tests been properly reviewed, according to her lawsuit in Allegheny County Court. The suit also claims the hospital tried to hide problems with the tests by destroying them.

Hospital officials have denied any wrongdoing.

Two other women sued last month claiming the hospital believed it could get more gynecologists to send samples to Magee - and in turn, make more money - if the hospital claimed samples were checked by physicians rather than technicians.

The women are seeking class-action status for their suit and court-ordered testing for an estimated 40,000 women who had Pap smears reviewed by Magee between 1995 and 2001.