False cancer diagnosis

Medical malpractice: “They damaged me for life”

Patient Katharina Wolle: "I thought I was going to have a heart attack."(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

A young woman (30) is diagnosed with a highly aggressive tumor at Kepler University Hospital in Linz. Her uterus is removed, along with an ovary. Weeks later, she is told that she was never ill. Research reveals how this serious mix-up came about.

Linz, January 2026. A gray day on the Danube. In the lobby of a business hotel sits Katharina Wolle (name changed), in her early 30s, dressed in black, a white scarf draped over her shoulders. Next to her: her lawyer, Rainer Hable. On the table lies a file folder. Her life in paper form.

Wolle lives in a small town in Upper Austria and wishes to remain anonymous. She hesitated for a long time, but now she is speaking out publicly. As a cautionary example of structural problems in the healthcare system.

"For months, I woke up every morning and went to sleep every night with the fear that I would soon die," she says calmly.

For months, I woke up every morning and went to sleep every evening with the fear that I would soon die.

Katharina Wolle

The routine procedure
In early June 2025, after a miscarriage with severe, persistent bleeding, Wolle is referred by her gynecologist to Kepler University Hospital in Linz. Only after insisting does she get a surgery appointment. On June 13, a curettage of the uterine lining is performed. A routine procedure, on an outpatient basis. She does not receive a discharge letter. She leaves the clinic on a sunny summer day, unaware of what is to come.

The call
On July 22, the clinic calls. They ask for an urgent appointment. Two days later, Wolle is confronted with a diagnosis that will turn her life upside down: the tissue sample taken in Linz has revealed a highly aggressive tumor, a so-called high-grade stromal sarcoma. An examination in Graz has come to the same conclusion.

An internal tumor board had already met before the personal consultation. The minutes, which are available to the "Krone" and "News," refer to "highly malignant tissue," i.e., a particularly malignant tumor. The recommendation: rapid surgical intervention.

The operation
At the beginning of August, two doctors tell Wolle that she must be admitted to hospital immediately. In the presence of a friend, Wolle wonders whether it would make sense to seek a second opinion. The doctors say there is no time for a second opinion. On August 5, starting at 7:39 a.m., she is operated on by a senior physician and an assistant physician: her entire uterus, both fallopian tubes, and one ovary are removed. There are no signs of metastasis. One day later, she is discharged: with a cancer diagnosis, unable to ever have children, and with permanently altered hormone levels.

Weeks of uncertainty
The promised discussion of the findings does not take place. Only after repeated inquiries, more than two weeks later, is it announced that the initial results are good, but that detailed analyses are still pending. Wolle describes this time as an emotional state of emergency, marked by fear and insomnia. At least they had discussed potentially necessary follow-up therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation beforehand.

On September 16, at 7:30 a.m., Wolle is finally summoned back to the Kepler Clinic. Three professors—Peter Oppelt, head of gynecology, Rupert Langer, head of pathology, and Karl Heinz Stadlbauer, medical director of the university hospital—inform her that she is healthy. What's more, she had always been healthy. There had been a "complication" during the pathological examination. No further explanations are given. She is handed a business card and an information sheet from the patient advocacy group of the state of Upper Austria, and Wolle is informed that her medical records can only be requested through a lawyer. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack," says Katharina Wolle. "You go there and trust these people. And they communicate it as if it were a piece of bread."

I thought I was going to have a heart attack. You go there and trust these people. And they communicate it as if it were a piece of bread.

Katharina Wolle

The new findings
The final histological report shows that there is no tumor in any of the tissue examined after the operation on August 5. The uterus was completely removed, with no evidence of sarcoma. There was no medical reason for the massive surgery.

What is particularly serious is that, according to the files available to the "Krone" and "News," Peter Oppelt, head of gynecology, was already informed of this result on August 21. Wolle only found out about it almost four weeks later. Weeks in which she lived in the belief that she had cancer.

The contamination
At the end of September, lawyer Rainer Hable took over the young woman's representation. He immediately requested access to the files. Weeks passed again. It was not until October 17 that he received the file. It showed that the original tissue sample had apparently been mixed up with that of another patient in the pathology department and thus contaminated. The discharge letter refers to an "extremely regrettable contamination." What is particularly serious is that the discharge letters were not sent for months and were only "electronically approved" by the head physician in October.

The fact that a young woman's health was destroyed is bad enough. But then to leave the patient alone – that leaves one stunned.

Anwalt Rainer Hable

The lawyer's attempt to bring those responsible to the table fails. The Upper Austrian Health Holding, which runs the Kepler University Hospital, states in writing that the treatment was carried out "in accordance with current medical standards and lege artis." Neither the doctors nor the legal department are willing to talk. Hable has clear words for this: "The fact that a young woman's health has been destroyed is bad enough. To then leave the patient alone and refuse any discussion to clarify the matter – this irresponsible behavior leaves one stunned."

When asked, the health holding company states that tissue contamination is a known, rare risk. According to international specialist literature, this can occur in approximately 0.01 to three percent of cases.

If you extrapolate this rate to the large number of daily examinations, uncomfortable questions arise: How often does this happen? And how often does it go undetected?

Katharina Wolle says: "The worst thing is that no one is taking responsibility. I'm not a number. I'm a human being."