A Tennessee woman won a $3.45 million lawsuit, claiming that surgery left her with “totally unnecessary” and “permanent” disfigurement.
Kellyanne Goodnight said doctors at Chattanooga Dermatology and Cancer Clinic on Shallowford Road in Chattanooga, Tennessee, removed several layers of skin just above the bridge of her nose during a mall procedure in 2017. Doctors told her the layers were filled with cancer cells, but they weren't.
During Moore's surgery, doctors would remove layers of tissue from Goodnight's nose and facial creases and examine them under a microscope to see if there were cancer cells, according to the lawsuit. WZTV reported.
If cancer cells are found, doctors will remove and test another layer of tissue, repeating the process until they find a layer that is free of cancer cells.
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A Tennessee woman won a $3.45 million lawsuit, claiming that surgery left her with “totally unnecessary” and “permanent” disfigurement. (iStock)
Dr. Mark G. Tusa and nurse practitioner Sharon Ann Brown told Goodnight they had to remove a total of seven layers of tissue, but the lawsuit says an independent tissue test showed no signs of skin cancer in any of the layers removed.
The lawsuit also states that Tusa “never informed Plaintiff of any additional or changed diagnoses.”
Then, after a follow-up exam that lasted about eight hours, Goodnight asked for more specifics: The cancer had spread, was the size of a baseball, and was under his nose and mouth.
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Based on the opinion provided by the pathologist, Tusa mistakenly interpreted the layer as containing basal cell carcinoma, when in fact it did not.
“Dr. Tusa created large, deep, irreparable and completely unnecessary craters on Ms. Kellyanne Goodnight's face,” the lawsuit states.
The surgery left Goodnight with “permanent facial disfigurement and structural damage to the muscles underlying her face,” according to the lawsuit.
“The unnecessary wounds created by Dr. Tusa have required multiple surgeries and it is anticipated that additional surgeries will be required in the future to correct this medical error,” the statement continues.
The surgery left Goodnight with a “permanent disfigurement” in her face, as well as structural damage to the muscles underneath her face, according to the lawsuit. (iStock)
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For months after her surgery, Goodnight said she was “unable to go out in public without a mask due to the embarrassment and humiliation of having suffered such devastating and horrific scarring on her face.”
The lawsuit also says Goodnight lost his job with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee as a result of the surgery.
Last week, Hamilton County Circuit Judge Michael Sharp ruled in Goodnight's favor, awarding her approximately $3.45 million, including $800,000 in compensation for past pain and suffering, $500,000 in compensation for future pain and suffering, $1.5 million in compensation for permanent disability and disfigurement, $100,000 in compensation for loss of ability to enjoy life in the past, $400,000 in compensation for ability to enjoy life in the future, and approximately $150,000 in compensation for past medical care and services.
