South Carolina has awarded $1 million to the estate of a 58-year-old patient who died in agony after surgeons left a blade inside him for many days.
Jeffrey Alan Fulcher, a husband and father of three, had minimally invasive surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in June 2022 to remove a portion of his esophagus after being diagnosed with localized carcinoma, a type of cancer.
According to local broadcaster WCSC, a Thompson retractor blade became lodged within Fulcher’s abdomen during the treatment, as evidenced by court filings.
Fulcher’s doctor allegedly neglected to see or remove the blade before closing his abdominal cavity.
Operating room nurses counted all medical devices before and after surgery to ensure that no blades were missing.
But that assessment turned out to be incorrect.
Fulcher complained of abdominal pain to his doctors the day after his treatment, but they judged he was “doing well,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the discomfort persisted for several days until Fulcher’s oxygen saturation fell and his abdomen became distended, or swelled.
X-rays were done, and Fulcher was brought to the operation room over six hours after the blade was discovered. According to documents, he was already in septic shock at this point. The blade had pierced Fulcher’s colon, requiring physicians to remove the dead portion.
He subsequently underwent another treatment because doctors were concerned about intestinal ischemia, which occurs when blood flow to the intestines slows or ceases. According to the lawsuit, Fulcher was too unstable to be relocated for surgery, so it was performed at his bedside. Doctors eventually removed what was left of his colon.
Fulcher died six days after his original procedure from sepsis, colonic perforation, and peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdomen’s membrane.
The lawsuit contends that MUSC was negligent, careless, and reckless. After Fulcher died, South Carolina’s insurance fund paid his estate $1 million.
