Suit: Sponge left inside woman during C-section at Prentice Women’s Hospital

A 31-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit claiming a sponge was left inside her abdomen during a C-section at Prentice Women’s Hospital in 2013.

Rachel Erceg and her husband, Stephen Bryant, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court against Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Prentice Women’s Hospital, a doctor, and two hospital employees.

Erceg claims she underwent a C-section on Dec. 3, 2013, at Prentice Women’s Hospital performed by her OBGYN, according to the suit. During the procedure, a laparotomy sponge was left inside her abdomen.

She was discharged from the hospital three days later, but returned to see the doctor on eight occasions between then and March 3, 2014, complaining of abdominal pain and other symptoms, including fever, according to the suit.

However, she never had an X-ray or CT scan performed, the suit claims.

The sponge was removed during surgery on May 7, 2014, five months after the C-section, according to the suit.

The eleven-count suit claims negligence and loss of consortium, and seeks at least $1,650,000 in damages.

A spokeswoman for Northwestern Memorial, which owns and operates Prentice, did not immediately provide comment on the lawsuit Tuesday night.