Woman: Emory doctors left a camera in my body after surgery

File photo

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

File photo

Update: The suit has been dropped and the hospital says the claim was false. Read more here.

Original story:

A woman has filed suit against Emory University Hospital, alleging that doctors left a camera in her body during an organ transplant.

The suit, filed in DeKalb County State Court this week, claims the hospital and doctors were negligent. The hospital didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Lacrystal Lockett of Stone Mountain went into surgery on Dec. 17, 2014, for a kidney and pancreatic transplant, according to the suit.

Dr. Paul Lu Tso, assisted by doctors Ronald Parsons and Denise J. Lo, performed the procedure with the assistance of a medical camera, the suit says.

“Unbeknownst to Ms. Lockett at the time,” her lawyers claim, “this medical instrument was left inside Ms. Lockett even after she was discharged from Emory University Hospital on December 26, 2014.”

The lost device didn’t turn up in her torso until the following June during an exam at the hospital.

She had another surgery to remove it.

“As a result of Defendants’ negligence, Plaintiff Lacrystal Lockett suffered undue hardship through additional surgical procedures and has incurred medical expenses as well as significant pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, and lost wages,” the suit alleges.

Lockett is asking for a jury to determine how much she’s owed.

Like DeKalb County News Now on Facebook | Follow on Twitter and Instagram

In other news: