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Jury awards $17 million to woman for surgical tool left in her abdomen
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A jury awarded nearly $17 million in damages to a woman who carried a 13-inch metal instrument in her abdomen for two months following a 2019 surgery at Presbyterian Hospital.
The verdict included $15 million in punitive damages against Presbyterian Healthcare Services, the state鈥檚 largest health care system, two attorneys involved in the case said Tuesday.
The jury also awarded the woman $1.75 million in compensatory damages, of which Presbyterian will pay 99% and Southwest Women鈥檚 Oncology, 1%.
Surgical personnel mistakenly left the 13-by-2-inch metal retractor in Michelle Torma鈥檚 abdomen on Jan. 29, 2019, after removing a 75-pound benign tumor. Presbyterian鈥檚 attorneys described the procedure as complex life-saving surgery.
Torma underwent a second surgery on March 28, 2019, after a CT scan identified the long, rectangular object in her abdomen. The object was found to be a retractor left there by a surgical team two months earlier.
Torma filed a lawsuit in 2021 alleging medical negligence and other claims against Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Southwest Women鈥檚 Oncology and Southwest鈥檚 gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Karen Finkelstein, who performed the surgery.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours late Monday following a weeklong trial in 2nd Judicial District Court before Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd.
Presbyterian鈥檚 attorney, Brenda Saiz, confirmed the verdict Tuesday but declined to comment about the case. Saiz said she did not know if Presbyterian plans to appeal the verdict.
Saiz said in closing arguments Monday that Presbyterian had accepted responsibility for the mishap, which resulted from 鈥渉uman error鈥� during a complex surgery to remove the massive tumor.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what this was 鈥� a human error or an inadvertent mistake that Presbyterian tries extremely hard to prevent,鈥� Saiz told jurors.
She argued that Presbyterian should not be required to pay punitive damages because Presbyterian has policies and measures in place to prevent the retention of surgical equipment. Saiz asked jurors to award Torma $500,000 in compensatory damages.
Presbyterian Healthcare Services spokeswoman Amanda Schoenberg said Tuesday that Presbyterian is 鈥渃ommitted to providing safe, high-quality care鈥� to New Mexico communities.
鈥淲e acknowledge the verdict in this case and deeply regret the impact of this error to the patient,鈥� Schoenberg said in a written statement. 鈥淲e鈥檝e implemented additional training and practices to prevent isolated incidents like this from occurring again.鈥�
The jury鈥檚 award fell short of the $45 million Torma鈥檚 attorneys asked jurors to award the Bernalillo County woman, including $9-11 million in compensatory damages and $35.8 million in punitive damages.
Torma鈥檚 attorney, Jacob Vigil, said Tuesday that the purpose of a large punitive award was 鈥渢o hold Presbyterian accountable and force them to make changes,鈥� including improved training of surgical staff.
鈥淭hey are supposed to adhere to a stringent policy on counting instruments to prevent the retention of surgical instruments in a patient鈥檚 body,鈥� Vigil said. 鈥淎nd they didn鈥檛 do it.鈥�
Vigil declined to say what percentage of the award will pay for attorney fees, citing attorney-client privilege.
Finkelstein鈥檚 attorney, Bryan Garcia, said in closing arguments Monday that the surgeon relied on Presbyterian鈥檚 staff to provide her with an accurate count of the equipment used in the surgery.
鈥淒r. Finkelstein had absolutely no reason to doubt two consecutive confirmations from Presbyterian staff that all instruments were accounted for,鈥� Garcia told jurors.
