You Know It’s a Bad Day When...

If you're going to be negligent and commit medical malpractice, you probably should be careful who you malpractice on. Don't leave a one-foot-square sponge in the belly of a judge.

Nelson Bailey, a Palm Beach, Fla. judge, had checked into Good Samaritan Medical Center for surgery to treat diverticulitis, a painful gastrointestinal condition. After the surgery, not only did the pain not go away, it got worse.

Judge Bailey complained to his doctor, who became suspicious and ordered a CT scan. Of course, they spotted the sponge. Kind of hard to miss something that big. He had surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fla. Doctors also had to remove part of Judge Bailey's intestine, which had been severely damaged by the festering sponge.

Adding insult to injury, after surgery the hospital's pharmacy gave the judge the wrong medication and nearly triggered a heart attack.

Following his recovery, the judge sued Good Samaritan, owned by Tenet Healthcare System, one of the country's largest for-profit hospital corporations. Judge Bailey now plans to sue two radiologists and a surgeon involved in his operation.

Judge Bailey discovered at the Cleveland Clinic that there is a wand-like device that can be waved over patients to detect specially tagged sponges and medical devices that could be lurking inside patients. He said he'd like to see all hospitals have equipment such as this.

The judge also has changed his mind about medical malpractice caps limiting damage awards in med-mal lawsuits. He told the Palm Beach Post that "when you have malpractice per se, something this egregious, the damages should be between the parties, a judge and jury without the state legislature dictating limits."

I couldn't have said it better myself.