SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky truck driver who was wheeled into surgery for a simple circumcision but awoke without part of his penis lost his multimillion-dollar lawsuit Wednesday against the urologist who lopped off a cancer-riddled section of the organ.
A six-man, six-woman jury deliberated briefly before saying it didn’t agree with 64-year-old Phillip Seaton and his wife, Deborah, that Dr. John Patterson had failed to exercise proper care. Seaton also sued because he said he hadn’t consented to the amputation.
The doctor said he decided to amputate less than an inch of the penis after he found potentially deadly cancer during surgery in 2007. The rest of the penis was taken off later by another doctor.
Patterson testified that when he cut the foreskin, the tip of the penis had the appearance of rotten cauliflower, indicating cancer. A pathologist later testified that tests confirmed the diagnosis.
“What I saw was not a penis. What I saw was cancer,” Patterson had testified.
His attorney said during the three-day trial in Shelby County Circuit Court that the doctor saved Seaton’s life with his decisive action.
Seaton’s attorney countered that Patterson should have sewn up his patient and consulted with the couple about such a life-altering surgery and his options to treat the cancer.
“He was mutilated,” attorney Kevin George said during closing arguments that took about as long as the jury deliberations. “His manhood was taken.”
August likely to be hottest on record in Phoenix
PHOENIX — Few would describe summer in Phoenix as pleasant, but this month is turning out to be particularly miserable as it teeters on the brink of becoming the hottest August in recorded history.
The city broke records for daytime highs on Monday and Tuesday, which reached 114 degrees. That’s 10 degrees hotter than the average high for this time of year, and more record-breakers could come Wednesday and Thursday.
“It would be difficult not to break it at this point,” Chris Kuhlman, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said. “So far, we’re a degree above the hottest one.”
The weather has led to an increased number of reports of heat-related illness, said Jorge Enriquez, a fire department spokesman. The department has seen a 33 percent increase, from 527 last year to 703 heat-related incidents so far this year, he said. In the past two days, 30 heat-related incidents were reported, Enriquez added.
The heat is brutal on the city’s homeless population, some of whom have been found dead in the streets. Enriquez did not know how many have died this summer, but in 2005 — a year with 24 days of temperatures above 110 degrees — 80 homeless deaths were reported.
Extremely hot summers can also lead to more scorpion stings as the desert critters crawl indoors to escape the heat. The Banner Poison and Drug Center in Phoenix reported Tuesday that its phones were “ringing off the hook.”
More than 70 people called within one 24-hour period ending Wednesday seeking medical advice after being stung by scorpions, the center said. Scorpion stings can cause nausea, vomiting, slurred speech and blurred vision, and are most dangerous for children. Deaths are rare.
Husband defends wife in Calif. baby’s death
ORANGE, Calif. — The husband of a woman accused of tossing her disabled 7-month-old son off the fourth story of a hospital parking structure said Wednesday that his wife suffered from postpartum depression and he doesn’t blame her for her actions.
The baby, Noe Medina Jr., died of his injuries earlier in the day at the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center, the same day that his mother was charged with murder and felony child abuse.
Sonia Hermosillo, 31, made a brief court appearance but did not enter a plea. She is due back in court Thursday.
Prosecutors allege that Hermosillo removed a helmet that her son wore for a medical condition before tossing him from the parking structure at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. She then went back inside the hospital to validate her parking before driving away late Monday, senior deputy district attorney Scott Simmons said.
Hermosillo’s husband, Noe Medina, said in an emotional press conference that he didn’t blame his wife and urged women to get treatment if they think they might have postpartum depression.
He previously told The Orange County Register that his wife was deeply distraught because their son was diagnosed with congenital muscular torticollis — a twisting of the neck to one side — and wore a helmet to help correct his plagiocephaly, also known as flat-head syndrome.
He had been receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital but did not have an appointment the day of the incident.
“My wife was not in her five senses. She didn’t know what she was doing,” Medina said, choking back tears. “I don’t know if many people know what postpartum depression is, but in reality it is something very serious and needs to be treated.”
Simmons said Hermosillo’s behavior showed she intended to kill her son, regardless of her mental state.
“It’s not like she’s in a fetal position when the police arrived,” he said. “She picks a specific location, drives to the top of the building [and] takes the helmet off. I’m sure she’s depressed, the post-partum blues, I’m sure she had some of that.”