Seven years after surgery: what was discovered in the nurse's abdomen led to a lawsuit

A nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan filed a lawsuit against the hospital and a team of surgeons after a 4 cm surgical needle was found in her abdomen on a CT scan, seven years after surgery. The needle was left behind in one of two surgeries she underwent in 2018 and 2021, causing severe pain until its discovery in October 2025.

Jana Petriganova Degrigoris, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, along with her husband, filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against the medical center and three of its doctors: Dr. Isabel Bloomberg, Dr. Philip Turina, and Dr. Scott Nguyen. According to the lawsuit, a surgical needle approximately four centimeters long was left in her abdomen during one of two surgeries she underwent — a cesarean section combined with wound closure on June 28, 2018, or an abdominoplasty combined with umbilical hernia repair on November 17, 2021. For seven years, she suffered from severe physical pain without knowing the cause. The needle was only discovered on October 14, 2025, during a CT scan, which led to additional surgery to remove it. The couple is seeking compensation for physical and emotional damages, but the amount was not specified. The hospital and doctors have not yet responded.