Woman Sues for Malpractice After Gauze Left in Her Abdomen
A jury has awarded a Florida woman $2.4 million after a doctor left gauze in her following a C-section. Eleven days after giving birth to her daughter on 9-11-01 at Memorial West Hospital, she had to go back to the operating room to remove something that had been causing her tremendous pain.
Her gynecologist, Dr. Joseph Becerra, accidentally left a gauze lap pad inside her. It the days it festered inside her body, it caused a huge abscess to rupture, spreading puss insider her abdomen and pelvis.
It was eight days after the birth of her daughter before an x-ray revealed a special marker inside her abdomen. It was a blue strip attached to the pad designed to alert x-ray techs that something foreign may have been left in a patient following an operation. At the time, doctors did not know how large the item inside her actually was. The 12 X 12 inch pad did not show on the x-ray. It took doctors another three days to send her back to the operating room to get the pad removed. Becerra is no longer employed.
If you or a loved one has suffered due to medical malpractice in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania, please contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis today to schedule your initial consultation.
