A nine-person Maine jury in Kennebec County Superior Court found unanimously on July 23 that Northern Light Health and its Inland Hospital were negligent in the care of Emily Mitchell of Skowhegan, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The jury found the negligence was the direct cause of her injuries. Mitchell was awarded $15.75 million for her injuries, pain and suffering and future medical costs. Her husband, Joshua Mitchell, was awarded $1.25 million.

Her attorneys said the award is the largest medical malpractice verdict in the county's history. The trial began July 13.

On March 1, 2023, Dr. Danielle Gagnon performed laparoscopic surgery on Mitchell, then 40, to remove a cyst on her left ovary. Imaging had shown the growth expanding significantly, according to WGME. It was benign.

Mitchell was admitted after the operation with intense pain, bloating and difficulty urinating, according to the lawsuit. She was transferred two days later to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor as her symptoms worsened.

Surgeons there prepared her for exploratory surgery expecting to repair a damaged bladder.

Two of them could not locate her bladder wall. Two more were called in, and all four concluded there was not enough healthy tissue left to rebuild.

The tissue Gagnon had removed in the first operation was sent back to pathology for review during the second. It contained full-thickness fragments of bladder wall and no trace of ovarian tissue.

Gagnon had removed nearly all of Mitchell's healthy bladder, the lawsuit stated.

Mitchell relied on tubes in place of a bladder for more than eight months, suffering recurring urinary tract infections, kidney infections and repeated procedures, WGME reported.

In October 2023 surgeons in Boston built her a new bladder out of intestinal tissue.

More than three years later she still suffers recurring urinary tract infections and requires continuing medical care.

Mitchell and her husband alleged the hospital never obtained her consent to remove the bladder, and that Gagnon had not raised the possibility beforehand.

Gagnon no longer works for Northern Light Health. Inland Hospital in Waterville closed in June 2025 after losing roughly $1.5 million a month, executives said at the time.