Melbourne, Australia:
An Australian woman is suing her doctor for negligence after a grapefruit-sized surgical sponge was sewn into her abdomen 15 years ago during surgery.
Helen Caroline Anne O'Hagan said the sponge was left in her abdominal cavity by surgeon Samuel Sakker during a 1992 partial colectomy, Sydney Morning Herald reported.
After the operation was conducted at a Sydney hospital O'Hagan suffered from cramps, fever and a loss of bowel control. She blamed her hardships on the long-term health issues that had prompted her to seek help in the first place.
It was not until she underwent an X-ray in 2007 that the sponge was discovered. A surgeon removed it on the same day.
But it was another three years before he told O'Hagan that it could only have been put there when Dr Sakker had performed his operation, the paper said.
Post-operation, the sponge "became encapsulated in dense fibrous adhesions within a sac of fluid", the Herald said.
O'Hagan was awarded permission to sue Sakker for negligence or breach of contract over the incident, though the now-retired doctor called for the case to be dismissed citing the long lapse between the incident and O'Hagan's action.
Judge Leonard Levy accepted that O'Hagan, who had been hospitalised 23 times since 1970, was preoccupied enough with her afflictions that she did not initially seek answers about how the sponge had ended up inside her.
The delay was compounded by the fact that the surgeon who removed the sponge was posted interstate for the next three years. He did not tell O'Hagan it could only have been left there by Sakker until last May.
The lawsuit begins this week.
Helen Caroline Anne O'Hagan said the sponge was left in her abdominal cavity by surgeon Samuel Sakker during a 1992 partial colectomy, Sydney Morning Herald reported.
After the operation was conducted at a Sydney hospital O'Hagan suffered from cramps, fever and a loss of bowel control. She blamed her hardships on the long-term health issues that had prompted her to seek help in the first place.
It was not until she underwent an X-ray in 2007 that the sponge was discovered. A surgeon removed it on the same day.
But it was another three years before he told O'Hagan that it could only have been put there when Dr Sakker had performed his operation, the paper said.
Post-operation, the sponge "became encapsulated in dense fibrous adhesions within a sac of fluid", the Herald said.
O'Hagan was awarded permission to sue Sakker for negligence or breach of contract over the incident, though the now-retired doctor called for the case to be dismissed citing the long lapse between the incident and O'Hagan's action.
Judge Leonard Levy accepted that O'Hagan, who had been hospitalised 23 times since 1970, was preoccupied enough with her afflictions that she did not initially seek answers about how the sponge had ended up inside her.
The delay was compounded by the fact that the surgeon who removed the sponge was posted interstate for the next three years. He did not tell O'Hagan it could only have been left there by Sakker until last May.
The lawsuit begins this week.
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