Patient sues over medical device she says was left inside her

A patient at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington filed a lawsuit Friday claiming she passed a plastic-metal device left inside her after surgery.

Shu-Fang Sherry Yeh had surgery at the hospital two years ago on Feb. 27 and was recuperating on March 3, 2007, when she "passed an abnormal bowel movement," the suit claims.

"Upon inspection of the abnormal bowel movement, it was discovered that Plaintiff Yeh had passed a metallic/plastic device that had been utilized in her surgical procedure," says the suit, filed by her lawyer, Paul D. Motz.

Although he could not comment on the suit because the hospital had not yet received it, spokesman Mike Deering said "Advocate Good Shepherd takes all of these matters extremely seriously and we put patient safety first and foremost in our mind."

The suit seeks damages in excess of $50,000.