Missouri Woman Awarded $507K for Needle Lodged in Her Back

A Missouri woman who has lived with a hypodermic needle lodged in her back for nearly seven years has been awarded a $507,000 judgment in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a St. Louis County jury last week sided with Claudia Ball after a four-day trial.

In 2011, Ball sued Dr. Catherine Doty and the Allied Physicians Group LLC, which ran the now-closed Breakthrough Pain Relief Clinic in Chesterfield.

Ball accused the doctor of negligence for embedding an inch-and-a-half needle in her back during a 2009 injection treatment for bulging and degenerative discs.

Ball’s lawyer says efforts to extract the needle have failed.

Ryan Gavin, an attorney for Doty and Allied Physicians Group, said his clients are disappointed in the verdict and plan to appeal.