Aqua
04-20-2007, 11:47 AM
(gg)
>LOS ANGELES - An 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
>harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and
>painful.
>
>But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle,
>according to medical records and the claim, which
>seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified
>damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle
>removed.
>
>"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the
>Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them,
>'What do I do now?'"
>
>Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, 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.
>LOS ANGELES - An 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
>harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and
>painful.
>
>But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle,
>according to medical records and the claim, which
>seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified
>damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle
>removed.
>
>"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the
>Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them,
>'What do I do now?'"
>
>Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, 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.