Man sues, claims surgical sponge left in his body

The cancer patient files suit against his surgeon and East Pasco hospital.

By CHASE SQUIRES

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 15, 2000

DADE CITY -- A 67-year-old Zephyrhills man on Thursday filed suit against East Pasco Medical Center and surgeon Paul Citrin, claiming the doctor left a sponge inside him during exploratory surgery in 1998.

Edmund Tatro claims the sponge was left inside him during an operation to examine a cancerous nodule on his left lung.

The sponge, which had to be surgically removed when it was discovered two months later, caused a deep bone infection, according to Tatro's attorney, Lex Taylor, who filed the lawsuit in Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court.

'When you say infection, you really don't touch on how serious this was," Taylor said Friday.

The sponge, according to the lawsuit, had to be cut out of Tatro's body, and the wound required months of treatment. Tatro lost bone damaged by the infection. The attention delayed his cancer treatments for a month, and Tatro lost some use of his left hand, Taylor said.

The bill just for repairing damage caused by the sponge totals $98,000 so far, with more treatment needed, Taylor said.

Taylor said the doctor and the nurses are supposed to count the sponges as they are inserted during surgery, then count them again as they come out, to avoid leaving one behind.

The hospital is responsible because it hires the nurses, Taylor said.

'This is very unusual," he said.

Citrin, through an assistant at his office at Florida Medical Clinic, declined to comment on the lawsuit on Friday.

A spokesman for the hospital did not return a call for comment.

Taylor said his client's cancer is in remission, but he has scarring and permanent damage from the sponge.

'This isn't supposed to happen," Taylor said.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.