Jury rules for patient in unnecessary mastectomy suit

A $1.5 million verdict was reached in a medical malpractice suit filed in St. Charles County Circuit Court.

The verdict, which was reached Nov. 21, 2025, includes $500,000 in past non-economic damages and $1 million in future non-economic damages for plaintiff Kimberly Kennedy.

Kennedy filed the suit against defendant Benrus Surgical Associates, Inc. after a left breast mastectomy for a lump despite no cancer diagnosis. She was represented by lead attorney Christopher A. Wright of Page Law in St. Louis, along with Anthony G. Laramore, also with Page Law.

The defendant was represented by lead attorney James P. Reinert, with Jeff Atkinson, of Lashly & Baer in St. Louis.

Kennedy underwent radiology imaging in the fall of 2014, which showed a lump above her left breast. However, the one core biopsy obtained by the defendant showed that it could be one of four things: fibromatosis, a benign entity that can recur locally; phyllodes tumor, that can be either benign or cancerous; spindle cell neoplasm, which can also be benign or cancerous; or sarcoma, which is cancer. Sarcoma was low on the pathologists’ differentials because the plaintiff was 26 at the time.

The pathologists recommended the surgeon get more tissue so they could make a definitive diagnosis, although they did not tell the surgeon to remove the breast to definitely diagnosis the lump. According to Wright, the surgeon instead cancelled the second core biopsy scheduled for the plaintiff without talking about it with the plaintiff first.

Three days before an informed consent discussion with the plaintiff and her younger sister on Oct. 10, 2014, the surgeon spoke with an oncologist and in the records, documented that the oncologist “recommended mastectomy” which Wright said the surgeon admitted was a “misrepresentation.” In deposition, the surgeon later admitted that at the time of surgery, she did not know what the lump was.

The plaintiff claimed the surgeon told her and her sister from the onset that she was 100 percent certain it was cancer and that only option was breast removal by mastectomy. The surgeon denied this, claiming throughout that she actually offered both a lumpectomy and mastectomy to the plaintiff, and that the plaintiff opted for a mastectomy.

Following the informed consent discussion, the surgeon faxed a surgery scheduling sheet to Progress West Hospital for Oct. 1. The surgeon wrote on the scheduling sheet on the diagnosis line “Dx: Left Breast Cancer.” The surgeon also handwrote cancer staging information on the same form, listing the diagnosis as Stage T2N0.

The surgeon had also sent a letter a day before the informed consent discussion to the plaintiff’s primary care physician, who had referred the plaintiff to the surgeon, which had two “misleading” statements: that fibromatosis had been ruled out, and that the oncologist had recommended mastectomy.

There was also no documentation about alternatives to the mastectomy being discussed. The word lumpectomy, or wide excision, did not appear in the Progress West Hospital chart for the surgery admission, nor in the defendant’s chart.

Four days after the mastectomy, a nurse called the plaintiff to tell her the pathology report came back and “showed no malignancy.” The surgeon did not call the plaintiff and did not bring it up again in her follow-up office visit. The pathology report confirmed the lump was fibromatosis, not cancer.

The plaintiff underwent several left breast reconstructive surgeries over the next five years. The implant became infected after the first attempted reconstruction surgery, and the reconstruction surgeon had to perform five reconstruction surgeries from 2016 to 2020. The reconstructive surgeon’s 2021 deposition stated, “Her breast will likely never look like it did before the mastectomy.” The defense argued that the surgeon was worried that it could be breast cancer due to the imaging.

The plaintiff’s side had one expert at trial, Dr. Douglas Aach, a surgeon in Shiloh, Illinois. The defense had three experts: lead expert Dr. Anne M. Kobbermann, a surgeon in Overland Park, Kansas; Dr. Christine Ormsby, a diagnostic specialist in St. Louis; and Dr. Jean Fair Simpson, a diagnostic specialist from Nashville, Tennessee.

According to Wright, Dr. Aach told the jury that when an imaging shows a lump or mass that looks like cancer, “It doesn’t matter what I think it is, it only matters what it is (as determined by pathology).”

There was one pre-trial demand for $250,000. According to Wright, “My client authorized and instructed me to make a pre-trial demand … the weekend before trial, which was automatically withdrawn at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of trial. The defendant surgeon never gave her consent to settle the case.”

Reinert said they were “extremely disappointed” with the outcome.

“You just never know what a jury is going to do. I thought we had a strong case, I thought we had good witness that did well on the stand,” he said. “The jury saw it differently … you get another nine people up there, it might be a different outcome.”

Reinert added that his opponent did “an excellent job” representing his clients.

“I respect my opponent … I give him all the kudos in the world,” he said.

RELATED: Click to search for and submit your Verdicts & Settlements

Medical Malpractice

Total value: $1.5 million

Breakdown and distribution of Total Value: $500,000 past non-economic damages; $1,000,000 future non-economic damages

Type of action: Medical Malpractice

Venue: St. Charles County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 2011-CC00022, 11/21/2025

Caption: Kimberly Kennedy v. Benrus Surgical Associates, Inc.

Injuries alleged: Other

First pretrial demand: $250,000

Last pretrial demand: $250,000

Plaintiff Attorney(s): Christopher A. Wright and Anthony G. Laramore with Page Law in St. Louis

Defendant Attorney(s): James P. Reinert and Jeff Atkinson with Lashly & Baer in St. Louis

Plaintiff Expert(s): Dr. Douglas Aach, a surgeon in Shiloh, Illinois

Defendant Expert(s): Dr. Anne M. Kobbermann, a surgeon in Overland Park, Kansas; Dr. Christine Ormsby, a diagnostic specialist in St. Louis; and Dr. Jean Fair Simpson, a diagnostic specialist from Nashville, Tennessee.

Insurance Carrier(s): NorCal Mutual Insurance then ProAssurance Incorporated, who purchased NorCal during the pending case (for defense)