Air Force Vet Loses Wrong Testicle In Botched Operation
Published by Alex April 5th, 2007 in Milestones. Share This
How does this happen? We’re always hearing about a patient going in for some kind of surgery and having something perfectly healthy removed by accident. Sometimes it’s the wrong kidney, sometimes someone goes in for one kind of operation but receives an entirely unnecessary operation because someone screws up the paperwork.
Poor 47 year old Benjamin Houghton had an apparent case of cancerous cells in his left testicle, which was painful and atrophied. He bit the bullet and chose to have it removed at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center last June. The surgery was a relatively simple operation involving a small incision, a couple of snips, and a few stitches. Nevertheless, they managed to screw it up and instead took out his perfectly healthy right testicle instead.
Houghton was understandably shocked to learn the news, thinking it a joke at first. Nobody’s laughing now as he’s gone public with his ordeal and is launching a claim for $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages.
In my opinion he’s shooting way under the mark. A medical team takes out my only worthwhile testicle and leaves the sick one intact, I’m hitting them for at least seven figures, maybe eight, and I’ll have some licenses to practice medicine while I’m at it, thank you.
VA Patient Has Wrong Testicle Removed [ap.org]
(Bad nut image: pbs.org)
for serious. i’d be asking for WAY more than that.
That’s what I interpreted “unspecified damages” to mean. The 200K is just to cover medical bills.
If this guy still planned to have children (not out of the question for a guy of 47), you might as well push that number up into 8 or 9 figures.
There are ways to avoid these kind of things. My father went to have surgery on one of his knees- the doctor handed him a marker and told him to draw a big X on the one he wanted cut up.
Probably harder to do this with this kind of surgery- but still, have a nurse do it and then check against the records….
That’s why it’s called “practicing medicine”.
I’d make the doctor eat that testicle.
I’m usually very against frivolous lawsuits against lawyers.. but this definitely isn’t frivolous. I’d ask for 6 figures if it was a finger. Not my only remaining testicle.
and I’d make them throw in a pair of Nueticles.
This reminds me of a joke by comedian Tom Shillue about wrong side surgery…
http://www.tomshillue.com/wrongside.html