A scalpel left in the body of Army veteran after surgery was discovered nearly four years later and now he is suing a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut. His lawyer called it "an incomprehensible level of incompetence."
Bridgeport resident Glenford Turner said the scalpel was only discovered years later, after he suffered from long-term abdominal pain. He sued the VA in U.S. District Court last week, seeking unspecified compensatory damages, The Associated Press reported.
Court papers said Turner had surgery at the VA hospital in West Haven in 2013. Nearly four years later, he went back to the VA with dizziness and severe abdominal pain. An X-Ray showed there was a scalpel inside his body.
Turner had to undergo surgery to remove the scalpel. His lawyer, Joel Faxon, said doctors confirmed it was the same one.
The VA said Monday it doesn't typically comment on pending litigation.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said he was appalled and stunned by the "egregious medical malpractice case."
"I have asked for a detailed explanation from 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."
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