A dentist reportedly forgot to remove a surgical needle from a patient's mouth recently. Dr Sarika who is a dentist visited another dentist Dr Vinayak Mahendrakar at a private clinic on SP Road in Karnataka's Dharwad area. The incident came to light after Sarika developed heavy pain in her jaws. She had to take an X-ray and to her shock found a tiny needle in her jaw. The medical instrument was left behind by Mahendrakar who performed the initial course of treatment on her.

Sarika then approached Dr Mahendrakar and complained about the pain and the needle she spotted in the X-ray. However, the doctor did not take the episode quite seriously and asked her to come for an appointment the next day. But when Sarika went to the clinic the next day, the doctor was not present complicating matters for her. A furious Sarika then lodged a police complaint against Mahendrakar.

A report in Bangalore Mirror quoted a police officer saying, "The lady doctor registered a complaint against Mahendrakar. Later, ACP called both doctors and asked them to arrive at a compromise. Sarika had only demanded that needle should be removed. Mahendrakar later agreed to have the needle removed. No complaint has been registered against the dentist."

This is not the first time surgical instruments were left behind in patient's bodies during operations. Multiple cases of similar carelessness by doctors have come forward in the past. While there have been incidents of parts of scissors and needles left behind in patient's stomach while operating, this seems the to be the first time a needle left by a dentist in patient's jaw grabbed headlines.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 09, 2018 01:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).