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Angie Perry said she will not settle and has claimed $1 million for malfeasance

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File photo: In 2020, Ministry of National Defense hospitals reported as many as 17 cases where surgeons left items on patients

In 2013, the US Air Force provided a former military spouse with US$50,000 (£36,000) to settle her medical malpractice claim at Yokota Air Force Base in western Japan.

According to the Stars and Stripes, Angie Perry said that she discovered chronic abdominal pain in 2018 due to the caesarean towel left on her abdomen during the Caesarean section in Yokota in 2013.

Ms. Perry, who now lives in Vancouver, Washington, said her surgery at a Japanese military base was "crazy" and "chaotic."

Ms. Perry said: "Once the surgeon was unable to stop the bleeding, things in the operating room became a bit crazy, and the nurses begged the surgeon to ask them to ask another surgeon to help." "I'm sure I will die there. ."

Ms. Perry said that the surgeon who performed the operation has just finished training and is no longer working at the base.

Although the operation ended with Ms. Perry bringing back her healthy baby boy, she soon began to experience chronic abdominal pain.

Ms. Perry added that her digestive system stopped working, her bladder no longer worked, and she was forced to wear a diaper.

It was not until 2018 that a doctor in Washington found the towel on her abdomen on a CT scan and took it out along with part of her intestines.

Ms. Perry said that she received a settlement proposal from the Air Force in July, along with a letter, stating that although the towel may cause abdominal pain, "pain is subjective."

Ms. Perry said that she will not settle and has claimed US$1 million (more than £724,753) for malfeasance.

A spokesperson for Yokota Air Force Base told the Stars and Stripes that they could not comment on Ms. Perry’s case.

According to reports, Ms. Perry is not the only woman suffering in Yokota. Lamia Lahlou, a former Army Arabic linguist, had a similar experience during a C-section in 2013.

Ms. Lahlou’s chronic pain was ignored in Yokota, but doctors in the United States discovered that a cotton ball remained in her abdomen and caused a large-scale infection. According to reports, she had to undergo five operations and had a part of her bladder removed.

In 2016, when the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) began tracking such incidents, as part of its annual report, it identified 18 cases where surgeons left items in patients. In another 38 cases, doctors performed or performed the wrong operation on the wrong patient.

In 2020, it is reported that as many as 17 surgeons left items on patients in Ministry of Defense hospitals. In 21 cases, doctors performed or performed the wrong operation on the wrong patient.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 ends a 70-year ban on prosecuting the Ministry of National Defense for medical malpractice, allowing military personnel and their families to file claims, but they cannot sue medical facilities in overseas bases.

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File photo: In 2020, Ministry of National Defense hospitals reported as many as 17 cases where surgeons left items on patients

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