SHREVEPORT – A patient alleges a surgical sponge was left in his body after a surgery at a Veterans Affairs facility.
Huey Gooden filed a complaint on Nov. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division against United States of America alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Feb. 7, 2012, he underwent an open partial nephrectomy at the defendant’s facility, Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. Following said procedure, he alleges he developed a large protrusion from his abdomen and a Sept. 9, 2013, CT scan revealed that a small surgical sponge was left in his abdomen. As a result, he sustained the need for a future surgery, pain, suffering, medical treatment and costs and wage loss. The plaintiff holds United States of America responsible because defendant’s employees allegedly failed to adequately account for each sponge used during his surgery and failed to ensure that no foreign bodies were left in his person.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks compensation amounting to $1 million, plus interest and costs and for all other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper. He is represented by Patrick R. Jackson and J. Kyle McCotter, both of Bossier City.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division Case number 5:16-cv-01554