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difficult to distinguish a healthy one from a diseased, atrophied one. I pity this guy.
Man sues hospital for removing wrong testicle Updated Thu. Apr. 5 2007 8:24 AM ET
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- A U.S. air force veteran has filed a federal claim after an operation at a Veterans Administration hospital in which a healthy testicle was removed instead of a potentially cancerous one.
Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed June 14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a chance it could harbour cancer cells. It also was atrophied and painful.
But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, medical records and the claim, which seeks US$200,000 for future care and unspecified damages, show. He still hasn't had the other testicle removed.
"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
"Then I was shocked. I told themL 'What do I do now?"'
Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their lawyer, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the situation.
Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife.
"We are making every attempt that we can to care for Mr. Houghton but it's in litigation and that's all we can tell you," he said.
The hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added.
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