XPost: alt.atheism, alt.politics.liberalism, misc.survivalism   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: sissies@cbs.com   
      
   A Pennsylvania man won nearly $900,000 in court after a   
   nightmare surgery ended up removing the wrong body part.   
      
   Of course, operating on the wrong side of the body, while not   
   common, is far from unheard of in the medical community. The New   
   York Times estimates that it happens as many as 2,700 times per   
   year in the U.S. But what happened to Steven Hanes still makes   
   one squirm.   
      
   You see, Hanes’ doctor, Dr. Valley Spencer Long, removed the   
   wrong testicle.   
      
   According to PennLive.com, Hanes suffered from chronic pain in   
   his right testicle for 15 years before consulting with Long, a   
   77-year-old urologist. Long recommended removing the testicle,   
   while Hanes later claimed there were other treatment options   
   available that were less invasive.   
      
   In surgery, it is not clear how Long mistook the healthy   
   testicle from the other one, but he noted in a post-operative   
   report that “it appeared” he may have made a mistake, per   
   PennLive.com. Long told Hanes as much in a follow-up appointment.   
      
   As a result, Hanes’ attorney claimed in court, the 54-year-old   
   Mount Union, Pennsylvania, man now suffers from a “debilitating”   
   fear of receiving further treatment.   
      
   “Mr. Hanes is now forced to either live with the painful   
   testicle or undergo treatment that could result in the loss of   
   the remaining testicle, making him reliant on hormone therapy   
   the rest of his life,” his lawyer, Braden Lepisto, said, per the   
   Legal Intelligencer.   
      
   Hanes sued Long, alleging that he acted with reckless   
   indifference during surgery and should have realized that the   
   testicle he was operating on looked healthy when compared to the   
   other, per the Daily Hornet.   
      
   A jury of 11 women and one man deliberated for 80 minutes before   
   announcing that they sided with Hanes, awarding him $870,000 for   
   future and past pain and suffering and punitive measures against   
   Long.   
      
   According to the Daily Hornet, Long no longer practices surgery   
   and is currently also being sued by the family of a patient who   
   died after an operation.   
      
   As for Hanes, he has not undergone treatment to remove the right   
   testicle and remains in pain, his lawyer said.   
      
   "Steve had the right testicle pain for 15 years before he went   
   to see Dr. Long. He wanted to relieve the pain," Lepisto said.   
   "Four years later Steve continues to have the pain. He's had   
   more frequent pain."   
      
   http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-   
   world/national/article156697919.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)