The federal government has been named in a medical malpractice lawsuit, due to the negligence of one of its Veterans Administration nurses that placed an ice pack on a man's penis for too many hours following a surgical procedure, as reported by the Associated Press. The man has claimed that he not only will require further surgery, a section of his penis had to be removed due to frostbite, and then gangrene.
The man, Army veteran M.N., filed the suit on October 2 in U.S. District Court in Louisville and is seeking $10 million.
M.N., 61, served in the army in 1968 and 1969.
M.N. went to the VA hospital on October 28, 2010 for a penile implant and circumcision surgery on his penis – a procedure that the suit alleges was medically necessary. His attorney, Larry Jones, stated that a nurse packed his client's groin on ice – for 19 hours – with left him with permanent damages.
Jones said, "It basically caused frostbite on his penis, which eventually caused gangrene. In addition to robbing someone of their manhood, they've robbed him of the simple ability to urinate just like every other person who lives in this world."
According to reporters, the Veteran's Administration did not return a call for comment prior to press time.
The ice was meant to reduced M.N.'s pain and swelling after his surgery. Jones said that instead of a short time on ice M.N. received "non-stop ice replacement."
Jones said, "Any doctor who is monitoring the care of their patient is not going to allow someone to have constant treatment with ice ... for more than 2-3 hours. It's about the most blatant medical malpractice error one could make. It's a senseless tragedy that should never have happened."
Within weeks of the surgery gangrene had set in M.N.'s penis. Doctors then were compelled to remove a section of M.N.'s penis – five inches in length. The surgery has caused him to still be under medical care. In the future, according to Jones, M.N. will require reconstructive surgery so that he will be able to urinate.
M.N. originally sought financial relief from the Federal Tort Claims Act. The act allows a person to file a claim with the government and prohibits the filing of a lawsuit until the claim is resolved.
However, in M.N.'s case, his relief was denied by the Department of Veterans Affairs in July. M.F., the regional counsel for the VA in Indianapolis, wrote, "It is our opinion that there was no negligence on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs or any of its employees in connection with the claimed loss; therefore your claim is denied."
Jones said that due to the extent of M.N.'s injury he had no other course of action other to file a lawsuit. Jones concluded, "If this was someone who had a little frostbite and a little burning for a couple of days, there would be no suit. I would not wish this on my worst enemy."
If you suspect that you have a case of medical malpractice contact a medical malpractice attorney to help you seek monetary relief.