Lawyer: Surgeons left behind 16 items

BERLIN -- A lawyer in Germany claims surgeons left up to 16 objects in her client's body after an operation for prostate cancer.

Annette Corinth said doctors removed a needle, compresses and surgical strips from banker Helmut Brecht after his wounds failed to heal properly following surgery in 2009.

The 77-year-old ex-banker died last year and his family is seeking $106,216 damages for his suffering, plus costs, from the Henriettenstift hospital in Hannover.

The organization that runs the hospital said some of the objects were not in use at the time of the surgery.