A St. Paul, Minnesota, hospital apologized publicly for a laboratory mix-up that resulted in amputation of a healthy woman's breasts after she was mistakenly told she had cancer.

Dr. Daniel Foley, medical director of United Hospital, told KARE-TV that the hospital had made changes so "this kind of mix-up would never happen again."

Linda McDougal, 46, of Woodville, WI, said she was diagnosed with cancer in May after her doctor had a biopsy performed when a suspicious spot appeared on her mammogram.

McDougal said she was told the cancer was so aggressive that a double mastectomy, chemotherapy or radiation were her only chances for survival. She had the surgery a month later.

Two days after the surgery, McDougal's doctor came to see her and told her she did not have cancer. After finding no malignancy in the amputated breast tissue, McDougal said her doctor discovered the laboratory had switched tissue from McDougal's biopsy with tissue from another woman.

United Hospital issued a statement saying: "Clearly there was a mistake and full disclosure was made as soon as the pathologist realized the error. We want to make it clear our doctors acted on good faith on the pathology information. … All our patients are important to us. We provide excellent care at United Hospital. In fact, Mrs. McDougal continues to receive care here and we appreciate the trust she is giving us."

Other sources: KARE-TV, United Hospital