New Damages Trial Set in $10M Case Over Sponge Left in Patient

A Kentucky woman is facing a new trial to determine her punitive damages in a case over a surgical sponge left in her body, because the trial court didn’t properly instruct the jury, a state appeals court said.

Kentucky’s University Medical Center Inc. conceded liability in the medical malpractice case, and a jury returned a $10.5 million verdict for Carolyn D. Boerste—$9.5 million of which was in punitive damages, according to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

But the hospital objected to the punitive damages on the basis that the jury wasn’t given the correct standard for determining if it could ...