Phillip Seaton doesn't think having part of his penis cut off is good news. But that's what he was told by his surgeon, who said he removed the tip of Mr. Seaton's manhood after discovering cancerous growths there.
Mr. Seaton, 64, went to Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky., in October 2007 for a scheduled circumcision. When he awoke from surgery, urologist John Patterson, MD, told him the procedure hadn't gone as planned.
"He said I got good news and bad news. The bad news is you had cancer, the good news is I had to cut some of your penis off," Mr. Seaton told the jury in a Kentucky circuit court, where his civil lawsuit against Dr. Patterson is ongoing. He is suing for nearly $24 million in damages, according to NBC News.
Upon hearing the news, Mr. Seaton got out of bed and went to the bathroom. "I pulled the dressing down, and I didn't see nothing," Mr. Seaton testified. "Then I come out of the restroom and said I'm getting the hell out of this damn hospital." Mr. Seaton settled with Jewish Hospital for an undisclosed amount, according to the network. A hospital spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Seaton, who can't read, had signed a consent form that allegedly gave Dr. Patterson permission to perform additional or different surgeries, the network reports. He admitted he took the consent home but never asked his wife or anyone else to read it to him, according to the report.
The defense team said in court that Dr. Patterson decided it was unsafe to sew the incision after the cancerous growth was removed without risk of infection, and that most people with the form of cancer discovered during the scheduled circumcision would have died without the additional surgery.
"He's here today because that cancer didn't get him, because John Patterson removed it," defense attorney Clay Robinson said during the trial.
Attorneys for both sides have been prohibited from discussing the case before its conclusion.
Daniel Cook
