New York Nurse Files Malpractice Lawsuit Against Mount Sinai Over Leftover Needle
A nurse at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York filed a malpractice lawsuit claiming a surgical needle was left in her abdomen for seven years, causing severe chronic pain.
A medical malpractice lawsuit has been filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court against New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center and three of its physicians. The plaintiff, Yana Petriganova DeGregoris, an employee of the institution herself, claims that a sharp surgical needle approximately 3.8 centimeters long was left in her abdomen during one of two surgeries she underwent at the facility, according to a report by the New York Post.
DeGregoris, who resides in the town of Scarsdale in Westchester County, has worked since 2013 as a registered nurse in the cardiothoracic surgery department at Mount Sinai. For nearly seven years, she suffered from severe, unexplained, and debilitating abdominal pain without the cause being identified. Only last year, following a CT scan, was the mystery solved and the surgical instrument left inside her abdominal cavity revealed. The discovery of the foreign object required her to undergo an additional surgery to remove the needle from her body.
Two Surgical Procedures and a Leftover Needle
At the center of the filed lawsuit are two separate surgical procedures that DeGregoris underwent at the medical center. The first procedure was a C-section performed on June 28, 2018, which also included plastic surgery wound closure by Dr. Isabel Blumberg and Dr. Philip Turina. The second procedure took place on November 17, 2021, and involved a tummy tuck alongside a laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair, performed by Dr. Turina and Dr. Scott Nguyen.
The lawsuit claims that the surgical needle was left in her body "negligently, carelessly, and improperly" during one of these two procedures. However, the lawsuit does not definitively determine in which of the two surgeries the lapse occurred. The plaintiffs accuse the surgical team of poor performance and lack of proper follow-up, which they claim caused DeGregoris long years of physical and mental suffering.
Hospital Silence and Demands for Compensation
The DeGregoris couple is demanding financial compensation in an unspecified amount for the physical damages, psychological trauma, and the impairment of their quality of life over the years.
Management of the Mount Sinai Medical Center and the three defendant physicians—Dr. Blumberg, Dr. Turina, and Dr. Nguyen—declined to respond to media inquiries for comment and have not yet filed a formal defense in court, as noted by NBC. The couple's attorney also declined to elaborate beyond the contents of the legal documents that were revealed. Hearings in the case are expected to begin in the coming months at the Manhattan Supreme Court.
