Here's something to remember for next time you think your health care provider has gotten a little sloppy: a US army veteran carried a scalpel forgotten by a surgeon inside his body for four years. The man, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, suffered abdominal pain for years until he was finally hospitalized with severe pain and dizziness.
An x-ray exam discovered a foreign object in the veteran's abdominal region — a razor-sharp scalpel, which had been left behind after a surgery that happened years before.
The veteran subsequently sued the department, Stars and Stripes reports, seeking unspecified monetary compensation. His lawyer has called it "an incomprehensible level of incompetence." He also said the surgeons confirmed the scalpel found in the man's body was the same one used in the 2013 procedure.
The surgeon "just sewed him up and moved on to his next victim," the lawyer said, according to Fox News.
The case drew the attention of US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who said he was appalled and stunned by the "egregious medical malpractice case."
"I have asked for a detailed explanation from the VA of this deeply troubling report," he said in a statement. "I am demanding also full accountability so this kind of horrific negligence never happens again."
The Veterans Affairs Department refused to provide comments on the ongoing case.
