If your injuries are attributed to medical negligence, such as leaving a foreign object in your body after surgery, you may be entitled to recover damages for your medical expenses, loss of income, pain and suffering, disability and disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of your life.

Common surgical items left inside a patient’s body include: Needles, Clamps, Sponges, Forceps, Scalpels, Suction Tips, and Retractors, among other possible items. These tools are necessary to a successful surgery, however, when left behind after a wound is closed they can have dire consequences. Some of these consequences include: Infection, Punctures, Pain, Obstructions, Infertility, and even Death.

Leaving a surgical tool behind inside of a patient is COMPLETELY preventable and when occurring it is very likely caused by negligence. A common practice by surgeons is to keep a detailed checklist of all tools used during a procedure and ensure every last piece of equipment is accounted for before a patient is cleared. Hospital staffs refer to leaving an object in a patient after surgery as a “never” event, meaning this should never happen without negligence on behalf of the medical provider. However, these kind of mistakes do still regularly occur.