An Arlington Heights woman, who is living with a portion of a catheter embedded in her heart, was awarded $3.5 million Tuesday by a Cook County jury.
The jury awarded the money to Diane Dillon, 43, after hearing testimony that one of her physicians had failed to remove a 9 centimeter tube from her chest.
Portions of the catheter subsequently became embedded in Dillon right ventricle and right atrium, according to her attorney, Barry Chafetz.
In her 1992 suit filed against Dr. Stephen F. Sener and Evanston Hospital, Dillon alleged that Sener was negligent in the placement as well as removal of a silicone catheter used when she underwent chemotherapy in 1989 after she underwent a mastectomy due to a cancerous growth discovered on her right breast.
Sener could not be reached for comment. Jean Benzies, a spokesman for Evanston Hospital, said Tuesday that the hospital was reviewing the court’s decision and had no comment.
According to the suit, Sener’s improper placement of the catheter caused it to fracture during the July 1990 procedure.
According to the suit, Dillon did not learn the portion of tubing remained inside her until December 1991 when she had an X-ray at another hospital.
Attorneys said that by that time, the risk of removing the piece of tubing was too great because it had become embedded in the heart.
Chafetz said Dillon faces as much as a 20 percent chance that she will eventually develop an infection as a result of the error.