CHARLESTON -- A man and his wife are suing Charleston Area Medical Center after they discovered a foreign object was left behind after surgery.
Drs. Edmundo Figueroa and Robert Smith were also named as defendants in the suit.
On Feb. 15, 2002, Willis Nottingham had a coronary artery bypass grafting procedure performed by the defendants, according to a complaint filed Aug. 21 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Nottingham claims during the procedure, a foreign body was left in his chest cavity, which caused him injuries.
The defendants were negligent in leaving a foreign body in Nottingham's chest cavity after the procedure; failing to locate and remove the foreign body notwithstanding an incorrect count of instrumentation; and failing to advise Nottingham of the situation, according to the suit.
Nottingham claims the defendants' negligence caused him to sustain bodily injuries; physical pain and mental anguish; expenses for doctors, institutional care, hospital care, nursing care, medicine, equipment and related items of service; humiliation and embarrassment; and impairment of his capacity to enjoy life.
On Feb. 21, after having a cardiac catheterization at CAMC, Nottingham was notified for the first time that there was a retained foreign body in his chest, according to the suit, and Nottingham's medical records and radiology reports pre-dating the cardiac catheterization reference a small metallic implant.
Nottingham and his wife, Kathy Nottingham, are seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. They are being represented by William S. Druckman and Madonna C. Estep.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Louis H. Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-1682