During election time, we are used to being bombarded with mudslinging allegations that our favorite presidential hopefuls are not as great as we had hoped. For supporters of GOP candidate Ben Carson, hearing allegations that his surgical skills may be as questionable as his comments about the Oregon school shooting may upset some.
The current number two choice for the Republican presidential nomination, Ben Carson, was criticized in the news recently for allegations that he was named in numerous medical malpractice lawsuits during his 35 year career. The most publicized lawsuit was one filed by a patient that claimed Carson left a sponge in her brain following surgery. Although this charge of medical malpractice was dropped against Carson within a year of its filing, his employer Johns Hopkins was still named as a defendant in the suit.
When asked about the allegations during a Fox News interview, Carson said that during his career he performed some 15,000 operations and a very small number, maybe five or six of those patients were disgruntled. When a spokeswoman for Carson was asked how a patient that had material left in her brain could be considered disgruntled, she said that nothing had been left in the patient’s brain.
While the case against Carson has been dropped, Johns Hopkins and several other professionals are still named defendants in the case. With so much attention being paid to Carson during his run for presidency, it is likely that these will not be the only newsworthy allegations that surface.
While the medical practice history of Ben Carson may be in the spotlight simply because he is, for other doctors it may be because of serious errors that they have made causing damage or death to patients. For individuals that have experienced surgical errors, speaking to an attorney as soon as possible is important.
Source: The Daily Caller, “Ben Carson Responds To Accusations That He Left A Sponge On A Patient’s Brain,” Chuck Ross, Oct. 9, 2015
