Retained Foreign Bodies

During surgery doctors, surgeons and nurses utilize numerous items of equipment, devices and surgical aids. Actually, leaving one or more of these items inside the patients body after surgery is a more common occurrence than one would think. Surgical sponges, for example are sometimes left inside the body. The patient will not know it until later when many times swelling, infection, bursting incisions, and the like occur. These can be very painful and can have permanent consequences including impairment and disfigurement. In general, the surgical nursing staff has the duty of accounting for surgical items. Various hospitals have varying methods and policies for counting. This firm has handled cases where the medical staff left foreign objects inside the patient but, despite post surgery complaints by the patient, failed to administer diagnostic testing that would have found the foreign object fairly quickly. The patient suffered for months. It is important for medical professionals to employ procedures such as CT Scans and X-Rays as soon as possible after the patient presents with symptoms that could lead to a diagnosis of a foreign surgical object having been left inside the patient. It is critical to contact the Law Offices of John R. Reeves, PC as soon as you know or should know that a problem has developed or malpractice has occurred. There are deadlines, called statutes of limitations, which can bar your medical malpractice lawsuit if it is not timely made.

This page provides general information, not legal advice. Every situation depends on its own facts, and reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.