How much should a "never" event, like a retained foreign object, cost a hospital?

In a case a federal judge in Denver is hearing, Richard Kellar, an Army veteran from Aurora, Colo., is seeking compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a surgical clamp the size of a large paper clip that was left behind during a triple bypass in August 2005, the Denver Post reports.

Wednesday morning, the Post reported that Kellar sought $15 million from the Department of Veterans Affairs; by early that afternoon, KDVR changed that figure to $7.5 million.

Initially, Kellar was offered $100,000 to settle the lawsuit before trial, but he spurned it, saying it wasn't enough to compensate for ongoing medical and financial problems.

He claims that shooting pains in his head and neck and numbness in his hands all are due to the clamp, UPI reports. When Kellar testified Tuesday, however, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Bonora showed the court disability applications that predated the surgery in which Kellar describes similar symptoms that prevented him from working.

To learn more:
- read the KDVR article
- see the Denver Post article
- here's the UPI story

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