When we have a medical procedure, we trust those in the medical profession to care for us in the best way possible. We know that mistakes can happen, but we hope that they are not likely to take place.
Every once in a while, we hear about someone who was the victim of a medical mishap, and that is what we are hearing with Deborah Lowe. 35 years ago in 1989, she was hospitalized at the age of 25 after a ‘troubled pregnancy’ with twins.
During the hospital stay, she had a feeding tube inserted but it seems as if they never removed it. She is now filing a lawsuit against Mount Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee because they left that feeding tube inside of her for some 35 years.
When her twins were born via cesarean section, she suffered further complications and had to undergo a hysterectomy. During that time, she was also put on life support according to her attorney, B’Ivory LaMarr.
A feeding tube was inserted while she was on life support and 35 years later, it is still in her body. For more than three decades, she dealt with a stomach that was constantly swelling and other stomach problems, finding it difficult to do everyday tasks.
Last year in April, she was going through another surgery when the surgeon found the feeding tube had been ‘left inside’ her. She is now suing the Medical Center for negligence, emotional distress, and breach of fiduciary duty. She is also speaking about how this has impacted her.
She said: “How could they do this? Who could make this mistake? This is too much, I shouldn’t have to go through this. They took my whole life. I was only 25 years old, and I couldn’t have no more kids, now I’m still going through things. I can’t do things I used to do.
“[…] I would want no one to go through this. When you don’t know what’s going on inside of you. You just try to live day by day.”
Her lawyer said: “This is probably the most outrageous alleged negligence that I think I’ve ever seen before. We believe this is the most egregious example of medical negligence in the state.”
The medical center says they have not been legally notified of the lawsuit and have no further comment.