Well, this data from the state Health Department has certainly made us terrified of ever getting invasive surgery. In 2008 and 2009, New York surgeons left 292 foreign objects inside patients, a 12 percent increase from 2006 and 2007. Nationwide, it happens about 3,000 times a year. But it's OK, because doctors are now utilizing the advanced technology of metal detecting to figure out what they left in there.
Maimonides Medical Center doctors are now using a metal-detector like wand over patients after major surgeries to double check for foreign objects, which are all affixed with radio-frequency tags. David Feldman, Maimonides vice president for patient safety, said, "We are always trying to make things safer." And avoid malpractice suits! Though some people just don't understand a good goof:
