CLEVELAND -- A confidential settlement was reached on Thursday in the lawsuit against the Cleveland Clinic in which the hospital was accused of leaving a surgical towel inside a woman's chest for years after the surgery, eventually causing her death.

No details have been revealed about the settlement between the hospital and the daughter of patient Bonnie Valle, NewsChannel5 reported.

Valle's daughter sued the clinic, claiming the towel left inside Valle's chest caused her death seven years after the operation.

The clinic argued that mistakes were made but it was the patient's emphysema that caused her death and the towel actually propped up her lung and helped her breath.

Judge Nancy Margaret Russo on Thursday informed the jury of the settlement.

Russo also threw out a malpractice claim against Dr. Jeffrey Miller, who was the patient's pulmonologist, saying Miller never performed the surgery and had nothing to do with the towel that was left inside the 60-year-old Valle.