This woman has an unbelievable lawsuit to file.
IMHO, the top pic is the correct one - unless someone got scalpel-happy and cut all the way into the thorax for a colon resection.
For a mistake of this magnitude (it wasn't a dropped needle, an extra lap sponge, etc) you have to have an ENTIRE TEAM of people being incompetent and covering for each other. When instruments, sponges, etc are brought into the field in surgery, they are counted 3 times, by three nurses (not the doctor, he's operating) from 3 vantage points. Then they're counted again, the same way, when they're taken out. The counts have to match or either the patient doesn't get closed, or if they're unstable and they have to close, they go *straight* to Xray to find whatever was left.
"Human error" my butt. A single sponge left behind the liver or something is an error that you could possibly see happening. Scissors or a snap clamp? Forget it.
I hope heads roll and licenses get pulled. It's crap like this that gives all of medicine a bad name.
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