You would think the surgeon operating on a patient would keep track of the sponges. They did not in this case.

This case is the one of the nightmarish ones. You go to a hospital for an operation and someone leaves a foreign body inside the operating site. If you are lucky, they catch it and it is removed. Not that it makes the mistake any easier to swallow when you have to have two operations instead of one and that your doctor messed up big time.

This wrongful death lawsuit was filed after the death of a man who went to hospital experiencing pain, and other symptoms, as a result of acute diverticulitis of the sigmoid portion of his colon. He needed surgery. The hospital was happy to oblige and he had his operation. He subsequently died a few days later, much to the bafflement of the surgeon and hospital staff that had transferred him to another area hospital to treat his declining medical condition. It turned out the surgeon had left a laparotomy pad inside the man. Despite emergency surgery upon finding the pad, intensive care and specialized treatment, the man died.

The lawsuit stated the hospital and the surgeon failed to keep track of their surgical instruments, laparotomy pads, sponges and other devices used in the initial surgery. A medical expert, retained by the plaintiff in this suit, indicated the care the deceased received did not meet the accepted standard expected at the hospital, and expected by other patients in similar circumstances. Clearly, if the surgeon leaves a foreign object behind in someone they operated on, this is a major mistake. That mistake caused this man’s death due to abdominal sepsis. It doesn’t get any more straightforward than that.

While there are rarely open and shut cases in wrongful death and/or medical malpractice lawsuits, this case comes close. It is obvious that but for the negligence of the surgeon, the man would still be alive today. If you feel you have been the victim of medical malpractice, and lived to tell about it, do not waste any time in contacting a Manchester personal injury lawyer about the case.

If you leave your doubts on the shelf too long, you may face losing the right to file a lawsuit, because you have missed the deadline for filing under the state statute of limitations. Medical malpractice/wrongful death lawsuits are no walk in the park, but some of them are clear enough on the evidence that they will not take as long as they could to settle or come to a resolution. Discuss your situation with a Manchester personal injury lawyer, and find out where you stand.

Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.