Philip Seaton, 61, went to the doctor for a circumcision that would make it easier for him to be treated for genital inflammation. When he woke up, he no longer had a penis.
“Whooops!”, you say? Hardly. The doctor knew exactly what he was doing.
While performing the operation, Dr. John M. Patterson believed he discovered cancer on his patient’s member. Rather than wake Seaton and alert him of the situation, he chose to err on the side of proactivity and removed the doodle entirely. Seaton, needless to say, was not grateful.
“It was not an emergency,” says Seaton’s lawyer. “It didn’t have to happen that way.” Seaton believes the doctor should have allowed him to seek a second opinion before removing Lil’ Phil, and is suing (alongside his wife) for punitive damages and “the loss of service, love and affection” (huhuhuh, service). Seaton is also suing the anesthesiologist, who put him under despite his wishes to be given a local anesthetic. As he would have been able to say “hey, stop cutting off my penis!” had they followed his desires, his complaint would appear to have merit.
A man in Indiana won a similar case in 1997 involving the involuntary removal of his wang and left nut, getting $2.3 million for his troubles. So aim high, Seaton! Whatever it takes to deter the next doctor who presumes to know whether someone wants to keep their genitalia. This could have happened to anyone. Anyone.
