NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A New York woman must wear a helmet forever because of damage from a surgical sponge left in her head, a lawsuit alleges.
A Queens Superior Court lawsuit filed by Mary Pober's family alleges the 84-year-old woman is constantly at risk for serious head injuries since she lost a portion of her skull in a procedure to retrieve the forgotten sponge, the New York Post said Monday.
"There's skin, but no bone covering her brain," Pober's lawyer, Stanley Shapiro, alleges. "Any fall could be fatal. Any blow to the head could be fatal."
The situation began in September 2007 when Dr. Ron Alterman of Elmhurst Hospital allegedly left a Gelfoam sponge inside her head while removing a subdural hematoma, the lawsuit suit for unspecified damages alleges.
The complaint alleges that after a portion of Pober's skull died as a result of an infection caused by the sponge, the skull portion and the sponge were removed by Alterman.
The doctor has denied the allegation that a sponge was left in Pober's head.
Pober's son said his mother has appeared disoriented since the surgeries and now requires anti-seizure medication, the Post reported.
