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Imaging clinic shuts down after patients say their mammograms missed cancer

Several women told our I-Team, mammograms performed at Watson Imaging missed their breast cancer.

ST. LOUIS — A south St. Louis imaging clinic accused of providing faulty mammograms to patients has closed its doors.

Last year, the I-Team found multiple women who claim the staff at Watson Imaging Center missed their breast cancer.

One of those women took her story to the Missouri statehouse this week.

The FDA warning

Watson Imaging Center sent letters to thousands of patients this past summer stating the FDA found image quality issues with over two years worth of its mammograms.

The FDA ordered Watson Imaging Center to stop performing mammograms.

Kristi Howard was in her early 30s when she got her first mammogram at Watson Imaging. Howard said she first went to Watson in 2017 after feeling a lump in her breast. Howard was given a clean bill of health.

Nine months later, she was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer, something she believes her mammogram should have caught.

Missouri's two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases prevents Howard from pursuing a case against Watson Imaging.

Now Senate Bill 631 would shorten the statute of limitations for other injuries from five years to two.

Howard is speaking out in hopes of keeping that from happening.

"Going through cancer is hard. Finding out your cancer had a head start on you is bad. Knowing that someone's mistake is why it had a head start on you is painful. But the worst of all is finding out you can do nothing to hold them accountable. I am a victim of not just cancer, but of a statute of limitation law that was wrongfully shortened," said Howard in testimony in front of a Missouri subcommittee Tuesday. 

State Senator Dan Hegeman sponsored the bill.  He represents northwest Missouri.

In a statement, Senator Hegeman said: 

“I sponsored this bill to bring Missouri in line with 23 other states in the country who have a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury claims. This change would put us in line with several of our neighboring states, like Illinois, who have shorter statute of limitations on these cases. When the current statute was originally on the books we did not have the technology to litigate these claims as efficiently as we do now. It just makes sense to shorten the timeframe and allow both victims and businesses to move forward.”

We're told the bill will probably get a third read and be voted out of committee next week.

It would then be put on the calendar for the full Senate. 

After radiation, chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, Howard is cancer-free.

According to their website, Watson Imaging closed permanently on Dec 31, 2021.

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