Boy Wins $31 Million in Lawsuit Due to Botched Circumcision

On the verge of his fifth birthday, a young boy has won a landmark lawsuit, as he won $31 million after his parents sued when his circumcision was mishandled, leaving him with a severely deformed penis. The unnamed boy was born in October 2013 and when he was just under three weeks old, his parents took him to Riverdale’s Life Cycle Pediatrics so he could be circumcised, like an estimated two-thirds of boys in America. However, the standard procedure went awry when the boy’s penis was partially severed. In the years since the botched circumcision, the boy’s parents claim that he has faced a myriad of issues emotionally and physically, including chronic scabbing and the long-term trauma he is sure to experience due to his deformed penis.

Terrell W. Benton, the defense attorney for the nurse-midwife and doctor who had been found responsible for the botched circumcision, argued that a million dollars would be sufficient to cover any medical expenses, plus counseling or anything else he may need to assuage his emotional suffering. However, Neal Pope, who represented the boy, argued that the incompetence of the staff warranted a much higher payout.

According to testimony, after the boy’s penis had been severed, he was sent home without any emergency surgery, despite the fact that surgery may have been able to reattach the severed tissue to the penis without any longterm health problems. Instead, the child has had to undergo multiple surgeries just to be able to urinate and, at this time, doctors are unsure if he will ever be able to have children.

At this time, it is not clear exactly who will be forced to pay the $31 million. While only the nurse and attending doctor have been found liable, Stacie Willis, the boy’s mother and the official plaintiff, requested that the family’s pediatrician, the owner of the clinic, and Daffodil Pediatric and Family Medical all be forced to pay.