Source : Perth Now news
A US mother who suffered years of unexplained abdominal pains claims to have made a horrifying discovery over the cause of her agony.
Jana Petriganova DeGregoris launched legal action against a prominent New York hospital after discovering a four centimetre surgical needle had been left abandoned in her abdomen, following a routine procedure years before.
Ironically, Ms Petriganova DeGregoris works a cardiothoracic nurse practitioner for the very same hospital network she and her husband are now taking to court.
The medical negligence lawsuit, filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court, names the hospital alongside a string of doctors who she claims are to blame over the devastating oversight.
Court documents obtained by the New York Post, reveal the discarded surgical tool went undetected for an astonishing seven years following a set of routine procedures.
The filing outlines two separate operations where the error may have occurred, beginning with a caesarean section and plastic surgery wound closure performed in 2018.
Three years later, Ms Petriganova DeGregoris underwent an abdominoplasty with laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair – commonly known as a tummy tuck – along with a procedure to treat a hernia near her belly button, according to court documents.
The lawsuit claims the needle was “negligently, carelessly and improperly” left behind during one of the operations, causing her to sustain chronic pain for nearly a decade.
“[She] sustain[ed] severe and serious personal injuries and severe physical pain when a foreign object was left in her abdomen,” the filing claims.
She finally uncovered the source of her mystery suffering when a CT scan revealed the needle on October 14, 2025, and underwent third surgery to have it removed.
The cause of Ms Petriganova DeGregoris’ suffering was finally revealed last October, when a CT scan revealed the needle in her abdomen, requiring a third surgery to have it removed.
Ms Petriganova DeGregoris — who has been employed at the hospital network since 2013 — and her husband are seeking unspecified damages.
