Sponge Counts as a Non-delegable Duty of Surgeon
A surgeon had an absolute duty to remove all sponges used during surgery and cannot delegate his duty to nurses or other surgical staff. The Indiana Court of Appeals found that the surgeon breached the standard of care in performing abdominal surgery when he left a sponge in the abdominal cavity, despite the fact that the assisting nurses reported a sponge count indicating that all sponges had been removed.
He could not absolve himself of liability for his own failure to account for the sponges by claiming he had relied upon the nurses’ count. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies in such a case, and the plaintiff was entitled to partial summary judgment on the issue of negligence. Chi Yun Ho v. Frye, 865 N.E.2d 632 (Ind.App. 2007).
