'Dance Moms' star sues for $1.4M: Surgeons 'forgot' catheter inside her body for years
Key Takeaways
Industry Buzz
"Abby Lee Miller suffered for years from an object left inside of her during spinal surgery; despite complaints to various physicians, not one ordered imaging of any kind to diagnose the source of her pain … Abby’s case is a chilling reminder: even when women are vocal and visibly in distress, their pain is still not believed." — Nadine Lewis, JD, Miller’s attorney
Abby Lee Miller, the 59-year-old reality TV star of Dance Moms fame, has filed a lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital and two of its physicians—Hooman Melamed, MD, and Paul Dwan, MD—seeking a minimum of $1.4 million in damages for medical and professional negligence and medical battery.[]
The lawsuit alleges that the hospital left a catheter inside Miller’s body for years after she underwent life-saving spinal surgery in 2020, leading to ongoing abdominal pain and discomfort.[]
Here's what happened
Miller underwent spinal surgery in 2020 to address complications related to a previous diagnosis of Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Following an otherwise successful surgery, Miller began experiencing pain and discomfort in her abdomen. According to legal documents, she claimed she notified her medical team about the pain, including the two physicians who performed the surgery, but that her complaints were ignored.
Dr. Melamed allegedly dismissed Miller’s symptoms, attributing them to post-surgical scar tissue and offering no further explanation. He failed to examine the site of Miller’s pain and did not order any imaging, the lawsuit alleges.[]
By March 2024, the lawsuit argues, Miller’s pain “had escalated into persistent and debilitating pain, impacting her quality of life on a daily basis.”
A few months later, in June 2024, Miller underwent an examination for a separate health issue, during which doctors ordered a CT scan over concerns related to her abdominal area.[] The scan revealed the presence of a “foreign object,” and doctors performed an emergency procedure to remove it.
Following the procedure, the object was identified as a retained catheter that had been left inside Miller’s body from the initial 2020 surgery—the source, the lawsuit alleges, of Miller’s years-long chronic pain.
"Abby Lee Miller suffered for years from an object left inside of her during spinal surgery; despite complaints to various physicians, not one ordered imaging of any kind to diagnose the source of her pain. Rather, they systemically dismissed her chronic pain and let her suffer for years," Miller's attorney, Nadine Lewis, said in a statement to the media.[]
Legal and ethical considerations
This lawsuit highlights several critical issues:
Retained surgical items (RSIs): Despite protocols like surgical counts and the use of surgical sponges with radiopaque markers, studies estimate that RSIs occur in approximately 1 in 5,500 surgeries.
Dismissal of patient complaints: Miller’s attorney emphasized that her chronic pain was "systemically dismissed," delaying the diagnosis and treatment of the retained catheter.[]
Gender bias in healthcare: Miller's attorney stated that the incident reflects a broader issue of women's pain being underestimated or ignored by healthcare professionals.[]