Brazil Hospital Probed After Family Says Surgical Clamp Was Left in Patient Who Later Died

Overview

• Manoel Cardoso de Brito, 68, died on December 24 after two surgeries at the municipal hospital in João Pinheiro, Minas Gerais.
• Relatives allege a clamp was left in his body during the first procedure, a claim they say was revealed by a CT image aired by a local radio station.
• The municipal health secretariat confirms a foreign object was identified on December 11 and removed in a second operation, opened an internal inquiry, and notified Anvisa.
• Family members filed a police report, and the Civil Police are handling the investigation without releasing details so far.
• The hospital says sutures from the first surgery were intact and cites the patient’s serious comorbidities as key factors, while the family alleges inadequate disclosure, denied access to exams, and a second surgery without formal consent.