A New York woman is suing a hospital for allegedly misdiagnosing her with stomach and lung cancer, leading to a morphine addiction, according to media reports.

Ramona Jimenez, 85, a Long Island resident, claims that in November 2008 she went to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, complaining of stomach ache, and then was wrongly diagnosed with cancer, the New York Post reported Monday. Jimenez was told she had only two months to live and then was sent to in-home hospice care, where she said she became a morphine addict.

Later tests at Stony Brook University found no evidence of cancer, the family said.
"This is a classic case of misdiagnosis," Andrew Siben, the woman's lawyer who's preparing a lawsuit against the hospital, told the Post. "This woman's whole life has completely fallen apart."

Patchogue, N.Y.-based Brookhaven said privacy laws prevent the hospital from commenting on the case.

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