Mae E. Murray v. John M. Allen

The defendant is a surgeon. On July 14, 1923, at the Brightlook Hospital in St. Johnsbury, he performed an abdominal operation upon the plaintiff. During this operation gauze sponges were placed in the abdominal cavity for the purpose of absorbing the blood and fluid, but proper practice required their removal after its completion. After the operation the plaintiff remained in the hospital for two weeks, and returned three or four times thereafter for treatment, the last time being September 25, 1923, when she saw the defendant, who told her that "she was getting along fine." She suffered thereafter pains in her side and abdomen to such an extent that she could not sleep without opiates or do her work, and her abdomen was distended and swollen. She consulted other physicians with only temporary relief until January 28, 1929, when she passed, with her stool, a surgical gauze about a yard in length, together with pus. After that her condition improved.