Maine woman awarded vast fortune after blundering surgeon removed her bladder instead of ovarian cyst

A Maine mother has been awarded $15.75 million after a surgeon accidentally removed her bladder instead of an ovarian cyst. 

Emily Mitchell, 43, of Skowhegan, was finally granted the compensation in Kennebec County Superior Court on Thursday, more than three years after the catastrophic operation by Dr Danielle Gagnon, according to the Bangor Daily News.

The botched surgery triggered a series of additional procedures, including one in which surgeons created a new bladder using tissue from her intestine. 

Years later, Mitchell still needs ongoing medical treatment while battling recurring urinary tract infections. 

The nine-person jury unanimously found Northern Light Inland Hospital’s negligence was to blame for the devastating injuries that forever changed Mitchell’s life. 

Her husband, Joshua Mitchell, secured a separate $1.25 million payout in damages stemming from the consequences of the disastrous operation. 

‘For Emily and her family, this is the closure they’ve needed for a long time,’ Mitchell’s attorney, Susan Faunce, told the outlet.

‘They can finally begin to move forward, knowing that what happened to them was seen, heard and acknowledged,’ she added.

Northern Light spokesperson Suzanne Spruce responded to the verdict, saying in a statement: ‘We respect the jury’s verdict and extend our sympathy to Ms Mitchell and her family,’ according to the outlet.

‘Every patient who comes to our organization deserves safe, compassionate and high-quality care,’ she added. ‘When outcomes fall short of those expectations, we take them very seriously.’ 

The family’s combined $17 million award marks the largest medical malpractice verdict in Kennebec County history. 

It also marks the fourth lawsuit this year alone in which a jury has found a hospital run by Northern Light negligent in the medical care it provided to patients. 

Mitchell, 40 at the time, underwent laparoscopic surgery on March 1, 2023, expecting a cyst on her left ovary to be removed. Instead, according to court documents, Dr Gagnon removed her bladder. 

In July 2025, she filed a lawsuit against Inland Hospital in Waterville and Northern Light Health, alleging Gagnon failed to follow safety protocols during the procedure.

‘Emily Mitchell is living a nightmare, suffering daily with a permanent injury that has dramatically altered her life,’ attorney Faunce told Bangor Daily News at the time. ‘Emily went to Inland Hospital for a routine day surgery and left without a vital organ.’

The lawsuit, obtained by the outlet, accused the hospital of removing Mitchell’s bladder without her consent during what was supposed to be a routine surgery. 

She alleged the hospital system was medically negligent due to multiple failures surrounding the ‘preventable’ removal and its lack of timely action to address the complications that followed.

According to the documents, Gagnon never raised the possibility of bladder removal with Mitchell before she went under the knife.

‘A reasonable person, under all surrounding circumstances, would not have consented to the surgery if she had known that Dr Gagnon was going to remove her bladder or if there was a substantial risk that her bladder could be removed,’ it said. 

Mitchell’s husband also claimed that he lost the care, comfort and companionship of his wife as a result, according to the outlet.

The lawsuit detailed the surgical error, revealing that Mitchell returned to the hospital shortly afterward suffering from ‘intense pain and discomfort, bloating and trouble urinating.’ 

She was transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor just two days after the operation as her symptoms continued to worsen. 

There, doctors performed exploratory surgery expecting to find and repair what they believed was a bladder injury. Instead, they made a shocking discovery: Mitchell’s bladder wall was nowhere to be found. 

Two more surgeons were called in and agreed that there was not enough viable bladder tissue remaining to perform a reconstruction, according to the filing.

‘Gagnon had incorrectly removed nearly all of Emily’s healthy bladder,’ according to the lawsuit.

A pathology report revealed that the tissue removed during surgery contained ‘full thickness fragments of bladder wall’ and showed no sign of ovarian tissue.

Mitchell was left with temporary tubes inside her body and endured a cascade of complications in the following months, including kidney infections, urinary tract infections and issues with medications, the lawsuit said.

In October 2023, Mitchell traveled to Boston for yet another major surgery to create a new bladder. 

According to the lawsuit, the procedure was 200 percent more difficult and lasted three hours longer than normal after surgeons discovered even more damage. 

The high-profile medical malpractice trial began on July 13, and jurors returned a unanimous verdict in Mitchell’s favor on Thursday. 

Her multimillion-dollar award includes compensation for her injuries, pain and suffering and ongoing medical expenses. 

Gagnon is no longer employed by Northern Light Health, according to the Bangor Daily News. 

The hospital where the surgery took place also shut down last year after executives said it was losing about $1.5 million every month.