West Bank Surgery Center, doctor accused of leaving Ray-Tec sponge in patient after surgery

NEW ORLEANS- A Plaquemines Parish man is suing his physician and the West Bank Surgery Center for allegedly breaching standards of care by leaving a medical sponge inside him following a surgical procedure.

Robert Bogdan filed suit against Dr. John C. Steck and West Bank Surgery Center LLC in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court on Sept. 3.

Bogdan claims that he was Dr. Steck's patient in 2011 because he was suffering from back pain. The petition states that Dr. Steck followed a course of conservative care, but eventually recommended and performed a decompression and microdecompression on the spine.

Bogdan says the surgery occurred on Nov. 18, 2011 at the West Bank Surgery Center. According to the plaintiff, a nurse at the surgery center gave him a pre-op antibiotic when he was admitted. Following this, Bogdan was administered the antibiotic Ancef in the operating room, the suit says.

The plaintiff asserts that Dr. Steck began the surgery 26 minutes after receiving the antibiotic. Bogdan alleges that this did not meet the national standard of care for timing sufficient to achieve surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis protection.

After the surgery, Bogdan claims he developed persistent pain with oozing from the surgical site. He says he returned to Dr. Steck for multiple follow-ups. Bogdan allegedly had a second surgery on March 9, 2012 to remove a Ray-Tec surgical sponge from the original surgery site.

The suit claims that the Ray-Tec sponge had been left inside the plaintiff during the Nov. 18, 2011 surgery, which resulted in a festering surgical site infection requiring prolonged antibiotic therapy, follow-up care, and the second surgery.

The defendants are accused of negligence, including failing to conduct a proper and accurate sponge count and failing to provide appropriate follow-up care and treatment.

The plaintiff is seeking an unknown amount in damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress, medical expenses, lost wages and loss of earning capacity.

The suit alleges that Bogdan's claims were presented to a medical review panel, which found that Dr. Steck did not breach the standard of care and that West Bank Surgery Center did.

Robert Bogdan is represented by Carlos A. Zelaya II of Mumphrey Law Firm LLC.

The case has been assigned to District D Judge Nakisha Ervin-Knott.

Case no. 2014-08691.