Professional Negligence Law Reporter
Medicine
You must be a Professional Negligence Law Reporter subscriber to access this content.
If you are a member of AAJ's Professional Negligence Section or a subscriber, log in below. Not yet a Section member? Join today!
Join the Professional Negligence SectionAlready a subscriber? Log in
Failure to remove surgical sponge
September/October 2024Amanda Hoover delivered her child by cesarean section at Banner-University Medical Center. After the delivery, Hoover experienced chronic abdominal pain, intermittent fever and chills, and nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. She underwent testing and was diagnosed as having a foreign body in the lumen of her sigmoid colon. She then underwent surgery, during which a surgical sponge and a 20-cm section of her sigmoid colon were removed.
Hoover sued Banner-University Medical Center Tucson Campus, LLC, Banner Health, and Banner University Medical Group, alleging that leaving a surgical sponge in her body after the cesarean delivery constituted a breach of the standard of care.
The jury awarded $4 million.
Citation: Hoover v. Banner-Univ. Med. Ctr. Tucson Campus, LLC, No. C20220265 (Ariz. Super. Ct. Pima Cnty. Feb. 7, 2024).
Plaintiff counsel: Ronald Mercaldo and Linda McKenzie, both of Tucson, Ariz.
