The family of a German patient who died after a surgeon left 16 surgical items inside his body during an operation is allegedly suing hospital authorities.

Dirk Schroeder, 74, experienced "appalling agony" after undergoing what was thought to be a routine operation for prostate cancer, according to Daily Mail. He was told he can expect to live a minimum of six additional years following the hospice procedure.

However, within six months following the surgery, Schroeder found himself back in the hospital after a shocked nurse found a large gauze pad protruding out from the man's wound while examining him at his home in Hanover, Germany. Schroeder called a nurse out to him home because he was experiencing pain.

Surgeons eventually took out the 16 items of operating equipment from inside Schroeder's body, which included a six-inch roll of bandage, a needle, six-inch long compress, several swabs and a piece of a surgical mask.

While the shocking incident occurred in 2009 and the man survived, the prostate cancer he had ended up spreading and he passed away last year. Nonetheless, Schroeder's family filed a lawsuit seeking $121,000 in monetary damages for the severe mishap, as it allegedly took two additional operations in order to remove all of the objects located inside his body.

"Such an extent of foreign objects left inside a patient is unique in medical literature. I hope the hospital will settle but otherwise the family are prepared to go all the way and sue in court," stated family lawyer and medical expert Annette Corinth.

"The family of the deceased spent lots of money on care, medicines and reconstruction of their home to look after this man. There has been a gross negligence here which most probably had led to complications and possibly a quicker death."

The hospital, which has not been publicly identified, denied that one of their surgeons left 16 items inside of Schroeder's body, according to The Inquisitr. The hospital said the items entered his body after the surgery was performed.

Tags
Offbeat