My uncle was not well and was having major heart issues. He was told he will not live much longer then a few months unless he gets a pacemaker. A pacemaker would be the only thing that could extend a much larger lifespan if it’s a success. He went into surgery to get the pacemaker. The whole family was there in the hospital waiting for the doctor to tell us how the surgery went. We all waited much longer than expected. 2 hours after the estimated time went by before we heard anything. They told us the did put a pacemaker in but do to unexpected circumstances they then had to open him back up and take the pacemaker out.

The unexpected circumstances were that someone accidentally left a surgical sponge in his body with the pacemaker. Because of this they not only had to open him back up to remove the sponge but also the pacemaker. Now he cannot have another surgery to have a pacemaker put in again, it would be to dangerous in would result in death to do that surgery again is what we were told. My uncle died 2 week later. He lost out on the only surgery that would save his life because someone messed up and left a surgical sponge inside his body during surgery.

Is the hospital liable for negligence resulting in his death?