Deborah Lowe is suing after discovering that a feeding tube was allegedly left in her stomach during surgery almost 35 years ago.
Lowe stated during a press conference, “How could they do this? Who could make this mistake? This is too much; I shouldn’t have to go through this.”
Lowe is now suing Mount Sinai Medical Center — which is now Aurora Sinai Medical Center — for medical negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and emotional distress.
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“The retained surgical feeding tool was the likely cause of her decades-long abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues,” according to court records. “The presence of this foreign object also contributed to extensive intra-abdominal adhesions, which required surgical intervention.”
The Wisconsin woman was pregnant with twins when she had an emergency cesarean section performed at the Milwaukee hospital in 1989. She had “severe complications” during the delivery, which led to the death of her twins and required a complete hysterectomy at the age of 25.
According to court records obtained by People, Lowe was subsequently put on life support for two months, during which time a feeding tube was implanted.
In an interview with FOX6, she said, “I had tubes everywhere. Feeding tubes, everything on me.”
Lowe, now 60, started having “persistent abdominal pain” after being released from the hospital. She saw several doctors over the next thirty years and had several surgeries, but her pain remained unexplained.
She recounted: “It was just difficult for me to do things. I like to workout. I like to walk. I couldn’t do that stuff. I had migraines, shortness of breath, and my stomach constantly swelled.”
But according to Lowe, during a colon procedure in April 2024, her surgeon allegedly found that the feeding tube from her 1989 surgery was still inside her, “embedded in her abdominal cavity.”
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She lamented, “The feeding tube was left inside for 35 years… that’s my whole life. 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.”
Lowe’s lawyer, B’Ivory LaMarr, filed the case on February 5 alleging medical malpractice and gross negligence on the part of the hospital. He is calling for a jury trial and wants Lowe to be “rightfully compensated”. He is also demanding accountability from the medical staff.
In a press statement, LaMarr stated that “Lowe’s suffering was entirely preventable.This case is a glaring example of systemic failure within our healthcare system. No patient should endure decades of pain because of a preventable mistake hidden in plain sight.”
In a statement provided to FOX6, Aurora Sinai Medical Center said it has “not been legally notified of this lawsuit and cannot comment further.”
During the news conference, LaMarr described the case as “the most outrageous alleged negligence that I think I’ve ever seen before.”
Lowe said, “I would want no one to go through this. It’s terrible when you don’t know what’s going on inside of you. You just try to live day by day.”
