Woman wins lawsuit over sponge
A Florida jury has awarded more than $2.4 million to a woman whose doctor left a foot-long sponge in her pelvis after she gave birth.
Karlene Chambers of Pembroke Pines, Fla., sued Dr. Joseph Becerra, the Pembroke Pines OB/GYN Associates, Memorial Hospital West and other medical agencies, the Miami Herald said Thursday.
The newspaper said Chambers gave birth to a healthy baby girl by Cesarean on Sept. 11, 2001, but returned to the hospital after she developed an infection.
On Sept. 19, a radiologist spotted a foreign object and reported it, but nothing was done, Chambers' attorney told the newspaper. On Sept. 22, the gauze-like sponge showed up in a CAT scan and doctors conducted emergency surgery.
The lawsuit said Chambers lost her ability to have more children and suffers from other health problems related to the incident.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
