Surgical Instruments Left Inside Patients Can Cause Serious Injuries

During most surgical procedures, doctors and their assistants use numerous surgical instruments such as clamps, scalpels, electrodes, scissors, and sponges to accomplish their surgical goals. Unfortunately, these surgical tools can accidentally wind up being left inside the patient. In fact, a study conducted by the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health found that 1,500 patients every year are the victims of this type of surgical error.

The law imposes the duty upon surgeons and their assistants to exercise reasonable care to make sure that before they end the surgery, any towels, sponges, and other surgical tools have been removed from the patient. Failure to do so can be considered a preventable mistake, and some sources of medical literature estimate that the average cost incurred by a patient who has a surgical tool/foreign object left in them exceeds $50,000. These injuries frequently result in sepsis, which require lengthy hospitalizations and a number of additional surgeries.

Our law firm represented a woman in Richmond, Virginia (VA) who had a hysterectomy and later discovered a surgical sponge was left inside her body (she didn't find this out until six months after the surgical procedure). This created a fistula in her bowel which required a subsequent bowel resection surgery. Fortunately, we were able to reach a successful settlement to help her with medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

It is only in very unusual circumstances that leaving a surgical instrument or sponge in a patient after surgery can be excusable. In the vast majority of these cases, the surgeons and hospital staff responsible for leaving the surgical tool/foreign object is guilty of medical malpractice and should be held legally responsible for inflicting this type of serious injury (which usually requires at least one corrective procedure to reverse the error) on their patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Virginia follow a two-year statute of limitations, although special exceptions may extend the medical negligence statute of limitations. One of these exceptions is when something is discovered some time later after an initial surgery or medical procedure, and this is called the "discovery rule." When it applies, the "discovery rule" permits a suit to be filed within a certain period of time after the injury or illness is discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered. The discovery rule does not apply to all injuries, and sometimes the period of time for bringing a claim post-discovery can be short, so it is important to seek legal assistance quickly in the event of the late discovery of an injury.

The Virginia discovery rule extension is still limited for medical negligence and you should consult a lawyer to get a fully overview of how to deal with a case that may involve something that you believe was "hidden" by the hospital, doctor, or surgeon (like a sponge or towel sewn up in your body, or a piece of a surgical tool left in a surgical site).

In order to reduce these types of preventable surgical errors (and potential lawsuits), I recommend surgeons start utilizing a safe-surgery checklist. I wrote an article about this checklist and studies indicate that one third of surgical errors could be prevented if this safe-surgery checklist was used.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about. 

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about. 

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.