'Dance Moms' star Abby Lee Miller sues cedars-sinai after catheter left in abdomen for four years
Abby Lee Miller claims $1.5 million, says Cedars-Sinai doctors left catheter in her abdomen after her 2020 surgery
Abby Lee Miller, once a star on reality TV show Dance Moms, has filed a malpractice suit against the Los Angeles based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and two doctors, claiming that they left a medical devise in her body following a 2020 spinal surgery. The suit filed on Tuesday, charges the hospital and doctors with medical malpractice, professional negligence and medical battery.
Miller, who is now in a wheelchair as a paraplegic, alleges Cedars-Sinai left the catheter in her abdomen for nearly four years. Miller is seeking approximately $1.5 million in damages. In the complaint, she claimed she has suffered from chronic pain that had been brushed off by medical professionals despite her multiple reports of pain.
Object found four years later
The lawsuit says Miller's pain worsened by March 2024, which limited her life. Then that June, Miller was treated at a different hospital for a different medical issue and had a CT scan, where the foreign body was discovered, a bright blue catheter was surgically removed from her abdomen.
Miller's attorney Nadine Lewis said this incident highlights how women's pain is dismissed by healthcare providers. “Abby's case is a chilling reminder that women are not believed when they communicate about pain, even when they say something is wrong and are visibly in distress,” Lewis said in a statement.
Abby Lee Miller is a famous celebrity in the United States and one of her notable appearances was on "Dance Mom." Photo: Daily Mail
Hospital and doctors respond
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center would not comment on the lawsuit, saying it was bound by patient privacy laws and ongoing litigation. But a spokesperson said the hospital is focused on patient safety.
One of the defendant physicians, Dr. Hooman Melamed, did not respond for a request for comment, and the other defendant physician, Dr. Paul Dwan, also declined comment. Miller first gained notoriety in 2017 when she was sentenced to federal prison for bankruptcy fraud.
