CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri woman who has lived with a hypodermic needle lodged in her back for nearly seven years has won a $507,000 judgment in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2bOtCAr ) reports that a St. Louis County jury last week sided with Claudia Ball after a four-day trial.

Claudia Ball in 2011 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 Ball's back during a 2009 injection treatment for bulging and degenerative discs.

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

A message seeking comment was left Sunday with Ryan Gavin, an attorney for Doty and Allied Physicians Group.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com


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