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Veteran suing Connecticut VA hospital over scalpel left inside his body

Posted at 3:22 PM, Jan 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-15 16:22:37-05

A veteran in Connecticut is suing the US government as the man is accusing doctors at a VA hospital for leaving a scalpel inside of his body from a 2013 surgery, WFSB-TV reported.

According to WFSB, Glenford Turner, 61, began experiencing dizziness and abdominal pain during an MRI. The procedure had to be stopped and doctors performed an X-ray. 

Turner's attorney claimed that a scalpel was then found near his stomach and intestines. The scalpel was used during a radical prostatectomy. The scalpel was removed in April 2017 during a surgery. 

"It is shocking that in return for that service the VA thanked him by deploying a rookie surgical trainee to perform the surgery who showed an incomprehensible level of incompetence by losing the scalpel in Mr. Turner's abdomen and not bothering to find it. He just sewed him up and moved on to his next victim,” attorney Joel T. Faxon said in a statement to WFSB on Monday.  

Turner reportedly served in the US Army.