Patient swallows syringe, seeks fine from hospital

Beijing, April 23 (IANS) A man in China who swallowed barrel of a doctor's syringe during an operation is all set to receive 60,000 yuan ($9,500) in compensation after the hospital authorities admitted to their staff's blunder.

Zhang Hua underwent an operation under general anesthesia March 22 to remove polyps from his nose at a hospital in Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei province, the China Daily reported.

"When I came round after the anesthetic had worn off, I had an awful pain in my throat," Zhang said.

As Zhang's family brought the problem to his surgeon's notice, they were told that it was a routine pain. Four hours later he got out of bed and vomitted.

"After vomiting some blood, I felt something stick in my mouth. It was covered in blood, and I threw it in a trash can before I realised it was a syringe barrel."

In a statement, the hospital authorities later explained when surgeons removed a tube during the operation, they had placed a syringe barrel in Zhang's mouth to extract phlegm and to prevent him biting himself.

After an investigation, an anesthetist is believed to have been found at fault for not removing the syringe barrel after surgery. The hospital said it has suspended the anesthetist from duty.

The hospital has "agreed in principle" to pay Zhang 60,000 yuan in compensation.