Sophia and Darrell Savage filed a medical malpractice suit against Three Rivers Medical Center – and won $2.5 million to cover their medical costs. The couple filed the medical malpractice suit after Sophia Savage discovered that surgeons had left a surgical sponge in her abdomen after her hysterectomy.
Savage underwent her hysterectomy in 2001, in the hospital where she was also employed as a registered nurse. Four years later, after suffering from abdominal pain, doctors discovered the sponge had deteriorated and attached to her lower intestine. She required another surgery in which some of her intestine was removed. She will have pain for the rest of her life.
Although the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is two years, since the sponge was not discovered until many years later, the Savages were still able to file their lawsuit.
They awarded Sophia $1.9 million for past and future pain and suffering and $65,968 for past medical expenses. Darrell was awarded $500,000 for loss of consortium.