Maine Woman Awarded $17 Million After Bladder Removed During Routine Ovarian Cyst Surgery

A Kennebec County jury has ordered Northern Light Inland Hospital and Northern Light Health to pay $17 million to Emily Mitchell for a severe surgical error that destroyed her bladder during what was supposed to be a straightforward gynecological procedure. The verdict, rendered last Thursday following a two-week trial, marks the largest medical malpractice judgment in the county’s history, according to Mitchell’s legal team at Berman & Simmons.

The catastrophic error occurred on March 1, 2023, when surgeons operating to remove a benign ovarian cyst that had grown significantly in size mistakenly extracted Mitchell’s bladder instead. Pathology reports confirmed the tissue removed during the operation was full-thickness bladder tissue, court records show.

Mitchell’s condition rapidly deteriorated following the procedure, forcing her transfer to another hospital for emergency intervention. Surgeons determined that insufficient healthy bladder tissue remained to reconstruct or repair the organ, leaving the damage irreversible.

For eight months, Mitchell depended on bilateral nephrostomy tubes inserted through her lower back to drain urine directly from both kidneys into external collection bags. During this period, she endured recurring urinary tract infections, kidney infections, multiple surgical procedures and ongoing medical complications.

Mitchell was eventually transferred to Massachusetts for complex reconstructive surgery, where physicians used a section of her small intestine to construct a neobladder. Nearly three years after the original operation, she continues requiring multiple daily catheter insertions and specialist care to manage her permanent condition.

The jury determined both entities liable and awarded damages encompassing past and future medical costs, pain and suffering, loss of life enjoyment, emotional distress and permanent disability. Northern Light Inland Hospital closed in May 2025 after more than 80 years of service, citing operational cost pressures and unsustainably low reimbursement rates.