Doctor Found Liable After Leaving Surgical Needle in Patient

By Brittany Golledge

Published on August 02, 2005

In a summary medical malpractice judgment, Justice Eileen Bransten ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Christopher Faas, concluding that medical evidence supported a finding that the defendant, Dr. Douglas Heymann, acted negligently by losing a needle in Faas' abdomen, and then closing the surgical incision without locating the needle.

Faas had initially been treated by the defendant for bile stones in March of 2001, but returned for a second surgery in October of that year to repair an incisional hernia. Towards the end of the laparoscopic surgery, a needle detached from a suture and fell into Faas' abdomen. Heymann and another defendant in the suit, Dr. Joseph Iraci, unsuccessfully searched for the needle for hours before deciding to close the incision.

The summary motion in favor of the plaintiff was based in large part on an affidavit from an internist, which stated that by leaving the needle inside of Faas, Dr. Heymann had departed from the accepted standard of medical care. Attorneys for the defendant argued that the internist was not qualified to be an expert, and the affidavit alone was not sufficient proof of negligence. The judge dismissed both arguments

A trial will be held at a later date to determine damages.

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