Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson responded on Thursday to allegations that he had botched a woman’s surgery by leaving a sponge in her brain by saying “sometimes there is a reaction to that sponge.”
The tabloid magazine The National Enquirer published an article Wednesday about several lawsuits against Carson, including one that alleged he left a sponge in a woman’s skull.
Radio host Alan Colmes asked Carson for his reaction to the tabloid’s report on his show on Thursday.
At first, Carson responded that he performed thousands of operations and that his opponents have tried to dig up information on him.
“But generally speaking there is no one who does the number of operations that I did who aren’t going to find some people who are going to be disgruntled,” Carson replied.
Colmes asked Carson outright if he left a sponge in a brain.
“It is true that we put a certain type of sponge in to pad things away and sometimes there is a reaction to that sponge and that’s what happened,” Carson said.
Listen to Carson’s comment:
… does not mean padding used to retract. Leaving something in is a major oops that the doctor has to own, regardless of who left it and why.
If I get a pebble in my shoe, I have a reaction. I think a surgeon accidentally leaving medical equipment in my head is a little different.
Wow, I don’t even know where to start on that one!!
What in the christ does that even mean. It was a yes or no question.
Honestly? It’s not exactly surprising that he avoided answering that question, especially if the case is pending.