Today in the local AJC newspaper this was an article I was sent...
"Circumcision victim gets $2.3 million
By Ty Tagami
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A Fulton County jury has awarded $1.8 million in damages to a boy injured in a botched circumcision.
The state court jury gave another $500,000 to the boy’s mother in the decision rendered Friday.
The case involves a child, identified only as D.P. Jr., who was born at South Fulton Medical Center in 2004. In a suit filed two years later, his mother contended that the doctor who circumcised him removed too much tissue and that his pediatrician failed to respond when a nurse complained of excessive bleeding. The boy’s penis was severed.
The jury found that both the pediatrician, Dr. Cheryl Kendall, and the physician who performed the circumcision, Dr. Haiba Sonyika, were negligent. South Fulton Medical Center was absolved of liability.
The pediatrician’s lawyer, Roger Harris, said he disagreed that the jury’s decision indicated that Kendall was negligent because she didn’t go to the hospital. “We believe there was error committed during the course of the trial,” he said.
Sonyika’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.
David J. Llewellyn of Atlanta, one of the mother’s lawyers, said the money awarded by the jury is to cover the cost of medical treatments and psychiatric counseling for the boy and his family. The jury did not award punitive damages. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not naming the mother to avoid identifying the child.
“This case does point out one of the dangers of circumcision that every parent must seriously consider when having the procedure done,” Llewellyn said.
In 1985, the penises of two infants were nearly destroyed during circumcisions with an electric cauterizing needle at Northside Hospital. Lawsuits filed against both doctors by the parents of the infants resulted in out-of-court settlements.
Circumcision, which involves removal of the foreskin, is performed routinely without incident. It is generally done for cultural reasons, but there is some evidence that it may help reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
and the subsequent article:
"$2.3M awarded in suit over botched circumcision
By TY TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, March 30, 2009
A Fulton County jury has awarded $1.8 million in damages to a boy whose penis was severed in a botched circumcision.
The state court jury gave another $500,000 to the boy’s mother in the decision rendered Friday.
Related links
The case involves a child, identified only as D.P. Jr., who was born at South Fulton Medical Center in 2004. In a suit filed two years later, his mother contended that the doctor who circumcised him removed too much tissue and that his pediatrician failed to respond when a nurse complained of excessive bleeding.
The tip of the penis was placed in a biohazard bag and might have been reattached if a urologist had attended to the boy within eight hours, one of the mother’s lawyers, David J. Llewellyn of Atlanta, said.
The jury found that both the pediatrician, Dr. Cheryl Kendall, and the physician who performed the circumcision, Dr. Haiba Sonyika, were negligent. South Fulton Medical Center was absolved of liability.
The pediatrician’s lawyer, Roger Harris, said he disagreed that the jury’s decision indicated that Dr. Kendall was negligent because she didn’t go to the hospital. He hinted at an appeal. “We believe there was error committed during the course of the trial,” he said.
Dr. Sonyika’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.
Llewellyn said the money awarded by the jury is to cover the cost of medical treatments and psychiatric counseling for the boy and his family. The jury did not award punitive damages. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not naming the mother to avoid identifying the child.
“This case does point out one of the dangers of circumcision that every parent must seriously consider when having the procedure done,” Llewellyn said. He contended that parents are not told of the risks of the procedure."
Something to be thinking about...is the risk worth the danger of this happening?
I have gotten a link that may be helpful to you as well. This website may be of interest http://circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/
5 comments:
The record payout for a botched circumcision is $22.8 million. It was said at the time that the victim "will never be able to function sexually as a normal male and will require extensive reconstructive surgery and psychological counseling as well as lifelong urological care and treatment by infectious disease specialists."
Sure, cases like that are very rare, but why should they happen at all? If you look up the galleries of botched jobs, one thing that may surprise you is just how many jobs were botched cosmetically, rather than medically. Skin tags and skin bridges and hair growing half way up the shaft are not normal, but would not be counted as medical complications.
Every circumcision removes the most sensitive part of the penis anyway (the inner foreskin is way more sensitive than the glans).
Time to stop cutting parts off babies' genitals in my opinion.
These organisations seem to agree:
Canadian Paediatric Society
"Recommendation: Circumcision of newborns should not be routinely performed."
http://www.caringforkids.cps.ca/pregnancy&babies/circumcision.htm
"Circumcision is a 'non-therapeutic' procedure, which means it is not medically necessary."
"After reviewing the scientific evidence for and against circumcision, the CPS does not recommend routine circumcision for newborn boys. Many paediatricians no longer perform circumcisions.
RACP Policy Statement on Circumcision
"After extensive review of the literature the Royal Australasian College of Physicians reaffirms that there is no medical indication for routine neonatal circumcision."
(those last nine words are in bold on their website, and almost all the men responsible for this statement will be circumcised themselves, as the male circumcision rate in Australia in 1950 was about 90%. "Routine" circumcision is now *banned* in public hospitals in Australia in all states except one.)
British Medical Association: The law and ethics of male circumcision - guidance for doctors
"to circumcise for therapeutic reasons where medical research has shown other techniques to be at least as effective and less invasive would be unethical and inappropriate."
This case made headlines because they sued and won. How many other such cases are not pursued, or the doctors get off on technicalities? US Judges and juries are very unwilling to admit that anything can ever go wrong with a circumcision (let alone that it is harmful even when nothing does).
Here are some of the galleries Mark refers to.
Thank you for posting this. Our family doesn't seem to understand why on earth we're choosing not to circumcise our son. We've tried explaining and sending them literature but it doesn't make a bit of difference. Makes me sad.
It's a mystery to me why the USA still circumcises so many boys. In most other western countries, it's either pretty much died out, or they never did it to begin with.
Drops in male circumcision:
USA: from 90% to 57%
Canada: from 47% to 9.2%
UK: from 35% to about 5% (less than 1% among non-Muslims)
Australia: 90% to 12.6% ("routine" circumcision has recently been *banned* in public hospitals in all states except one, so the rate will now be a lot lower)
New Zealand: 95% to below 3% (mostly Samoans and Tongans)
South America and Europe: never above 5%
It's worth remembering that we wouldn't even be having this discussion if it weren't for the fact that 19th century doctors thought that :
a) masturbation caused various physical and mental problems (including epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, tuberculosis etc), and
b) circumcision stopped masturbation.
Both of those sound ridiculous today I know, but if you don't believe me, then check out this link:
A Short History of Circumcision in North America In the Physicians' Own Words
Cut is a documentary film by Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon which examines the subject of male circumcision from a religious, scientific and ethical perspective.
Using cutting-edge research, in addition to interview footage of rabbis, philosophers, and scientists, Cut challenges the viewer to confront their biases by asking difficult questions about this long-standing practice.
Download it for free at http://www.cutthefilm.com/Cut_Website/Home.html
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