After 7 years of agony, NY mom discovers C-section surgeons left a needle in her belly: lawsuit

A New York mom claims bungling Mount Sinai doctors left a needle inside her during one of two surgeries — and she endured seven years of unexplained agony before the discarded sharp was finally discovered, according to a lawsuit. 

Jana Petriganova DeGregoris, ironically a nurse herself for the same hospital network, and her husband Gerard DeGregoris, are suing the Manhattan hospital along with doctors Isabel Blumberg, Philip Torina and Scott Nguyen over the roughly 1.5-inch needle she says was found inside her abdomen.

Petriganova DeGregoris, of Scarsdale, underwent a C-section with a plastic surgery wound closure performed by Blumberg and Torina on June 28, 2018, according to the Sept. 24 filing in Manhattan Supreme Court. 

On Nov. 17, 2021, Nguyen and Torina gave her an abdominoplasty with laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair – a tummy tuck along with a procedure to treat a hernia near her belly button, according to court docs.

During one of these operations, the surgical tool was “negligently, carelessly and improperly” left behind, the suit says. 

“[She] sustain[ed] severe and serious personal injuries and severe physical pain when a foreign object was left in her abdomen,” the filing claims.

She finally learned about the foreign object on Oct. 14, 2025 during a CT scan, the lawsuit alleges. She then underwent another surgery to remove it. 

Petriganova DeGregoris and her husband are seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the alleged medical debacle. 

Blumberg, Torina, Nguyen and Mount Sinai did not return requests for comment. The couple’s attorney, John Cagney, declined to comment.

Petriganova DeGregoris has been a cardiothoracic nurse practitioner at Mount Sinai since 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile.