Steven Hanes, a 54-year-old Pennsylvania man was recently awarded $870,000 after a doctor surgically removed the wrong testicle.

After experiencing years of pain in his right testicle, it was discovered that the painful testicle was half the size of Hanes’ healthy testicle. It didn’t seem to have any sort of health issue but in order to alleviate his pain, doctors decided to remove the painful testicle. Somehow, the doctor I guess forgot which one was supposed to be smaller than the other and removed the normal sized, healthy and functioning testicle.

Now, I’m not a medical doctor but I would think that if someone was crazy enough to have me do surgery like that, I could at least identify what it was that needed to be removed. I might not know how to remove it without killing the patient but I think I could identify something that’s unhealthy.

Anyway, a jury awarded Hanes $620,000 in compensatory and $250,000 in punitive damages which I’m sorry, but it’s not nearly enough. Maybe I’m biased because I wouldn’t want any of my testicles removed if they’re healthy but this form of malpractice is worth more than $870,000. The jury felt that Dr. Valley Spencer Long was “recklessly indifferent.”

For one thing, Hanes doesn’t have his healthy testicle anymore. Not only that, Hanes still has his painful testicle and has to go back into surgery to get it removed (hopefully with a different doctor). This means, going back under anesthesia and getting something done that should’ve been done before and Hanes insurance company (hopefully he has insurance) has to pay for this surgery again. And even if they make Dr. Long pay for it (which he should), it probably would take a long time for that to happen so someone has to pay for the surgery.

All in all, this is a very messed up situation and really stresses that some doctors don’t know what they’re doing. Hanes should’ve gotten more money and the doctor would have his license revoked after all is said and done.

[Fox 43/Photo: WiseGeek]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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