Tennessee hospital faces lawsuit after doctor allegedly left surgical needle inside patient who died

[left-of-center2012]

TriStar Centennial Hospital in Nashville, Tenn is facing a $5 million lawsuit that claims a surgeon forgot a surgical needle inside a patient.

The family of John Johnson says he had gone to the hospital for heart bypass surgery in May 2017. After the surgery was finished, staff at the hospital approached Johnson's children to tell them there had been a complication. "They said when they did their count, a needle was missing," said Nicole Blankenship, Johnson's daughter.

According to a lawsuit filed this week against the hospital, Dr. Sreekumar Subramanian left a needle inside of Johnson during the open surgery -- a needle doctors initially spotted in an x-ray afterward, but still couldn't find after putting Johnson under the knife a second time.

"So long story short, he had two heart surgeries in one day," said Blankenship. After the second operation, leaving the needle still inside him, according to the lawsuit, Johnson had complications that left him on a feeding tube and other equipment. Johnson died 30 days after the operation.

Jason Denton, one of the family's attorneys, says Subramanian should have performed a basic needle count before finishing the first operation. He also said hospital staff didn't even tell Johnson's family about the second operation to get the needle until it was already underway.

TriStar Centennial responded to the lawsuit in a statement Friday evening: "We take the responsibility of properly caring for our patients very seriously and empathize with the understandable grief being felt by the family. We were just made aware of this recently filed legal action. We would like the opportunity to review the specifics of the claims being made and then determine how best to respond."

https://www.10news.com/news/national/tennessee-hospital-faces-lawsuit-after-doctor-allegedly-left-surgical-needle-inside-patient-who-died

[Laffy Kat]

1. Yep, needle and sponge counts BEFORE you close.

I'm sure they'll settle.

[Ohiogal]

2. "The needle and the damage done"

sorry, I'm a Neil Young fan ....

[Horse with no Name]

3. There is a little bit of ambiguity

It doesn’t say he was closed and then reopened....chances are he was still open when the counts were being finalized but then had to be reentered.
Nonetheless, there isn’t a jury who will be able to finesse that it wasn’t two different procedures.
Undoubtedly this is why the defense has framed the argument this way.
I see a hefty settlement knowing that more than likely, the patient was circling the drain when he was brought to surgery and the outcome would have probably been unchanged regardless of the stray needle. However, a mistake was made and someone will pay.

[Docreed2003]

5. Your post is exactly correct and I'm sure that's what happened...nt

[mitch96]

4. It would always freak me out after taking an x-ray

and see a "foreign body" on the film.. I've seen hemostats and towels but no needles..
Definitely and "oh shit" moment.. Early in my career I took a pic of a apple picker who fell out of a tree and broke his shoulder.. Old guy. When the shoulder film came out the shoulder and chest was peppered with buck shot.. I asked him what happened and he said he was trying to jump a train when he was young and the conductor shot him.. Nope, did not catch that train..
Different times...

m