Woman awarded £8m after doctors left sponge inside her during surgery

A woman has been awarded $10.5 million (£8m) in damages after medical staff left a sponge inside her body.

The sponge – which measured 18-by-18 inches and was left behind during surgery – was inside the woman's body for years before she realised.

It had been left in her body after she underwent heart surgery at a Kentucky hospital in 2011. The bypass surgery is said to have gone wrong, leaving a mess – and as nurses rushed to deal with the problems, the sponge was left inside her body. 

It was not discovered for four years, until she had a CT scan in 2015. In the meantime, the sponge had moved around the woman's body, shifting around her intestines and causing pain as it did so. She had her leg amputated and was left with gastrointestinal issues after the sponge eroded into her intestine.

The patient's lawyers said the case should be a reminder to hospitals to ensure that objects such as needles and other sharp objects, as well as sponges, are removed from patients after surgery.

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Source: The Independent, 1 January 2020