Bound by a Common Thread

TONIGHT AN I-TEAM EIGHT INVESTIGATION HAS AN INDIANAPOLIS HOSPITAL ADMITTING MISTAKES IN THE OPERATING ROOM. WE FIRST HEARD FROM TWO WOMEN, BUT LEARNED THERE COULD BE POTENTIALLY DOZENS MORE. THEY'RE VICTIMS OF SOMETHING LEFT IN THEIR BODIES THEY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THAT HAS MADE SOME SICK FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS. TWO WOMEN. A GIRL AND TWO BOYS, I'M A MOM OF THREE NOW. WORKING MOMS, ONE A CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANT, THE OTHER. I WORK FOR THE INDIANA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. TOTAL STRANGERS, LIVES BOUND TOGETHER BY A COMMON THREAD, A MISTAKE IN THE OPERATING ROOM DURING HYSTERECTOMIES. MAKES YOU KIND OF JUST WANT TO CURL UP SOMEWHERE AND NOT LET ANYBODY BE AROUND YOU. BOTH WERE LEFT LIVING WITH PAIN, BLEEDING, SCAR TISSUE AND A BAD ODOR. THE SMELL, IT SMELLED LIKE ROTTING FLESH. I WOULD LEAVE WORK AND TAKE A SHOWER. IT WAS ALMOST LIKE A DEAD PERSON, INSIDE, THE SMELL. UH-HUH, YEP. SHE OFFERED TO LET HER NOW HUSBAND CALL OFF THE WEDDING THEY WERE PLANNING. AND YOU'RE HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE PAIN AND THE ODOR. YEP. ON YOUR WEDDING DAY. ON MY WEDDING DAY. YEP. HOW HARD WAS THAT? INCREDIBLY. I REMEMBER LYING ON THE BED AT NIGHT WE WERE READY TO WATCH A SHOW AND MY 6-YEAR-OLD COMES IN THERE, WE WERE SITTING ON THE BED AND HE SAID MOM, WHAT IS THAT SMELL. BOTH RETURNED TO THEIR GYNECOLOGIST MULTIPLE TIMES, QUESTIONED OVER AND OVER UNTIL BOTH FINALLY GOT THE SAME ANSWER. COME TO FIND OUT, TWO YEARS, STITCHES WERE THAT LEFT IN MY FROM MY SURGERY, BACK IN 2010. SHE TOLD ME AT THAT TIME THAT THEY WERE NO ONE DISSOLVABLE SUTURES THAT WERE USED. THIS HAPPENED TO POTENTIALLY DOZENS OF WOMEN. THE DOCTOR WRITES THAT THE HOSPITAL WOULD ISSUE A LETTER REGARDING HOSPITAL SUBSTITUTION OF SUITURE LATER FOUND TO BE PERMANENT. 42 CASES, DIFFERENT DOCTORS. I NEVER GOT A LETTER, BUT I STARTED TO CALL THEM. SHE SAID SHE FINALLY GOT A MEETING WITH TOP HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS. THEY DID CONFIRM THAT THERE WERE ANOTHER 45 SOME ADD PATIENTS AND I WOULD BE RECEIVING A LETTER AS TO HOW ST. VINCENTS WAS GOING TO MAKE GOOD ON THIS, BUT THEY NEEDED TO IDENTIFY THOSE PATIENTS AND THEY COULD HAVE HAD A RANGE OF SURGERIES, NOT NECESSARILY HYSTERECTOMIES. KATHY NEVER GOT A LETTER, EITHER. THERE ARE MORE WOMEN OUT THERE THAT HAVE NOT BEEN NOTIFIED, AND THEY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT, JUST FOR THEIR OWN HEALTH. HAS THE HOSPITAL BEEN HONEST WITH THEM? HOW MANY ARE US ARE THERE? HOW COULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN? WE TOOK THAT QUESTION HERE TO CHICAGO, TO ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S TOP TEACHING HOSPITALS AND A LEADING EXPERT. DR. JESSICA SHEPHERD IS THE DOCTOR ARE MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY IN CHICAGO. WE ASKED HER TO SHOW US THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABSORBABLE AND PERMANENT SUITURES. THESE ARE ABSOCIALABLE, THEY ARE SOFTER. SOME ARE SIMILAR. THIS ONE DEFINITELY LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO A PERMANENT SUTURE. THEY HAVE THE SAME COLOR AND FEEL. IS THERE A COLOR CODING DIFFERENCE? I WISH THERE WERE, BECAUSE THAT WOULD MAKE IT SO MUCH EASIER. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF MAKING SURE IT'S THE RIGHT SUTURE? THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION. I THINK IT'S A SYSTEM ISSUE.♪♪ THEY HOPE BY SHARING THE VERY PERSONAL DETAILS OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM, OTHERS WON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PAIN OF NOT KNOWING. ULTIMATELY, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE COMING OUT OF THIS? THAT THE RIGHT WOMEN GET NOTIFIED AND THAT THE HOSPITAL DOUBLE CHECKS AND RECHECKS AND MAKES SURE THAT THEY DO THEIR JOB CORRECTLY. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DEALING WITH THIS? SO NOW IT'S BEEN TWO AND A HALF YEARS. THAT'S A LONG TIME. IT IS. AND QUITE HONESTLY, I'VE ACCEPTED THAT IT'S PROBABLY SOMETHING I'M GOING TO DEAL WITH FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I-TEAM EIGHT ASKED ST. VINCENT'S WOMEN HOSPITAL TO PROVIDE AN ON CAMERA INTERVIEW TO SHOW US A COPY OF THE LETTER ALLEGEDLY SENT OUT AND REVEAL THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PATIENTS. WHAT WE RECEIVED WAS A STATEMENT. WE DETERMINED THAT NO ONE ABSORB ABLEISTURES WERE USED DURING A LIMITED NUMBER OF TOTAL LAPAROSCOPIC HYSTERECTOMIES PERFORMED AT ST. VINCENT WOMEN'S HOSPITAL. OUR HOSPITAL TAKES THE SITUATION SERIOUSLY. WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH PATIENTS INDIVIDUALLY TO ADDRESS THEIR CONCERNS AND HAVE OFFERED REMOVAL OF THE SUTURE AT NO COST. WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED PROCESSES TO IMPROVE OUR SYSTEMS. WE ASK TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CHANGES MADE TO THE SYSTEM AND HOW THE MISTAKES HAPPENED. THAT REQUEST WAS ALSO DENIED. THE ATTORNEY FOR THE TWO WOMEN, JASON RECENT HAS FILED FOR A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TO INCLUDE ANY OTHER WOMEN WHO MAY HAVE HAD SURGERY BETWEEN 2008 AND 2010. BEFORE THIS WENT ON THE AIR, YOU WERE ALREADY SEEING FACEBOOK CHATTER AND WEB CHATTER ABOUT THIS AS OTHER WOMEN FIND OUT AND IT RIPPLES FROM THERE. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WOMEN HAVE BEEN VERY CONCERNED ABOUT AND ARE REACHING OUT SAYING WAIT A MINUTE, I THINK I MIGHT ALSO, THE SYMPTOMS SOUND FAMILIAR. IF YOU THINK IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU, GO TO OUR