Surgical items left inside patients in the aftermath of an operation may sound like the plot to a psychological horror movie, dark comedy, or over-the-top medical drama. For some patients, however, this disturbing scenario is all too real. Surgical errors where tools, supplies, medical waste, or foreign objects are left in a patient’s body can lead to life-threatening illness, debilitating injuries, and high-stakes medical malpractice claims.
If you have been injured, fallen ill, or tragically lost a loved one after an item, object, or contaminant was left inside an incision during surgery, contact a surgical error attorney. Goethel Engelhardt, PLLC, can use Michigan’s medical malpractice surgical error laws to seek justice for the wrongs you have suffered. The decision to hire a surgical error lawyer is an important first step in filing a strong and successful malpractice claim.
Knowing When to Hire a Surgical Error Lawyer
It can be difficult to know whether you have a medical malpractice case after a surgery. Something may feel vaguely “off” or out of place, leaving patients unsure if:
- Something was done incorrectly in the operating room.
- They are merely feeling the routine aches and pains of recovering from surgery.
Patients are also often on strong medications immediately after surgery, which can alter their perception or make it even more challenging to plan a malpractice claim.
This means the ideal time to hire a surgical error lawyer for a retained foreign object case is usually as soon as you suspect that something is wrong. Even if you aren’t entirely certain that an object has been left inside your body in error, a lawyer with a long record of success in such cases can:
- Request the necessary diagnostics to confirm your suspicions.
- Gather the necessary evidence to establish your case.
- Plan a comprehensive legal strategy to support your malpractice claim.
Surgical Errors, Retained Foreign Objects, and Medical Malpractice
Retained foreign objects, or items erroneously left inside a patient during surgery, represent a specific and highly unsettling type of surgical error case, which is itself a specific type of medical malpractice case. Medical malpractice is, in turn, a special type of personal injury case in Michigan and most other states.
This is to say that retained foreign object cases are an extremely niche part of civil law in Michigan. This might lead you to believe that such cases are rare. The unfortunate reality is that these disturbing scenarios affect patients and contribute to medical malpractice claims every year.
The Prevalence of Retained Foreign Objects
An industry magazine for surgical nurses, referring to these traumatic incidents with the euphemism “unintended retained surgical items” (URSI), reports that, while total incidents are trending downward, there are still around 100 cases per year. That may not sound bad, but the URSIs disclosed to their organization may represent as few as 2% of total URSI cases, putting the total closer to 5,000.
Most disclosed cases involve surgical sponges. A small bit of sponge may seem like a fairly innocuous material, but the stark reality is that 40% of patients affected by URSIs experience severe harm from the incident. Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that this magazine, writing to an audience of working OR nurses, cites a culture where perioperative teams “don’t feel comfortable speaking up [when] something might be wrong” as a key factor.
The results of a recent review of over half a million surgical case files were no less troubling. This study focused on missing surgical items (MSI) rather than strictly looking at URSIs confirmed to have been left inside a patient. The distinction is meaningful because MSIs can sometimes also be attributed to theft, misplacement, or inventory accounting errors. However, logic and patient complaints suggest that many MSIs are, in fact, unconfirmed URSIs.
Out of the 559,910 surgical operations analyzed, 154 cases of missing surgical items were found, or around 3 out of every 10,000 operations. While this is a relatively small percentage, consider that the University of Michigan Health System alone performs over 50,000 annual surgeries, and they are far from the only large healthcare provider in Michigan. Statistically, this means Michigan patients are affected by this horrific form of malpractice on an all-too-regular basis.
FAQs About Surgical Items Left Inside Patients in Michigan
What Is Considered a Retained Foreign Object in a Surgical Malpractice Case?
A retained foreign object in a surgical malpractice case refers to an item erroneously left inside a patient’s incision during an operation, which can cause severe injury, illness, or even wrongful death. Due to the highly controlled environment in an operating room, such items are usually small surgical tools, like sponges.
How Does Leaving a Surgical Item Inside a Patient Establish Medical Negligence?
Leaving a surgical item inside a patient establishes medical negligence because leaving a foreign object inside their body represents an obvious failure in the duty to care, as healthcare staff didn’t live up to the level of service and care reasonably expected of them.
Missing surgical items should be quickly identified and investigated due to meticulous operating room inventory procedures. If a doctor attempts to hide or cover up such an error, they may become liable for additional malpractice violations.
Who Can Be Held Liable in a Retained Surgical Instrument or Sponge Case?
An individual doctor, a healthcare system, or both can be held liable in a retained surgical instrument or sponge case. It depends on the specific details of the case and what the available evidence shows. Your attorney can investigate your case to find all the liable parties, which could also include support staff.
What Damages May Be Available to Patients Harmed by a Retained Foreign Object?
The damages suffered by patients with a retained foreign object will be based on the specific circumstances of that individual case, such as how badly they were injured. Every medical malpractice situation is unique, with damages and available evidence sometimes being extremely different from one case to the next, even within a niche subcategory like retained surgical objects.
Goethel Engelhardt, PLLC – Your Trusted Partner for Medical Malpractice Litigation
If you or a loved one has become sick or disabled after a surgical team left a foreign object behind, the highly adept medical malpractice team at Goethel Engelhardt, PLLC, can represent you. We can guide you through the complex process of a medical malpractice claim, build powerful legal strategies, and seek justice on your behalf. Contact our offices today to set up your totally private consultation.
