Former Monroe Man Suing St. Vincent's Medical Center Over Surgical Sponge

Gary Knepler, owner a Monroe-based driving school, claims St. Vincent's Medical Center staff left a surgical sponge inside of him, leading to permanent injuries.

In a statement, the hospital said it believes some of the injuries were unrelated to the surgery.

Knepler, formerly of Monroe and now of Florida, underwent emergency hernia surgery in November 2010.

"Severe infection resulted along with a bowel obstruction, cardiac arrhythmia, and more than a dozen related medical conditions, some of which required additional surgery," according to a press release from Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, who represents Knepler and his wife, Julia.

She alleges the incident resulted in her being “deprived of the companionship and society of her husband as well as loss of consortium."

St. Vincent's Response

“St. Vincent’s apologized to Mr. Knepler, waived charges for care related to this event, and provided him with a cash payment. Mr. Knepler continues to seek compensation for conditions that we believe are unrelated to his surgery.  We will continue our discussions with Mr. Knepler and his counsel in the proper forum," according to a hospital spokesperson.

"St. Vincent’s remains committed to patient safety, and was the first hospital in Connecticut to use radiofrequency technology to detect retained sponges after surgery.  This technology, along with high reliability safety training and processes for our surgical staff, significantly reduces the likelihood of a retained sponge," the spokesperson added.

But Knepler alleges that “even after the hospital apologized for this error, they still sent me a bill for $24,000 that my insurance would not cover because they said it was a clear case of malpractice. That’s when I called the attorneys.”

“I had such a productive life before they did this to me,” said Knepler, now 66.  “They robbed me of so many things.”

Knepler said he said he can no longer ride his bicycle, frequently feels his heart racing and is unable to perform many of his other routine activities.

“For someone who owns a driving school, to be forced to limit when and where I drive, is just devastating.”

The release cites a study "a recent study by the John Hopkins School to Medicine[1] [that] estimates that a foreign object such as a sponge or towel is inadvertently left inside a patient’s body after an operation 39 times each week in the United States.

The hospital has until March 19 to respond to the lawsuit, according to the release.