March 6, 2016
Op left teen without tip of penis
by Zelda VenterPRETORIA: It was meant to be a routine circumcision, but the procedure left a Pretoria teenager without the tip of his penis.
His mother had taken him to the Soshanguve Community Health Care Clinic on May 2, 2014 for the circumcision. The mother said when they arrived, her 16-year-old son was taken to a room where a doctor was to perform the procedure. However, the doctor mistakenly amputated the tip of the penis during the operation.
Thereafter, the tip was placed on ice in a plastic bag and taken to the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, along with the boy. There doctors tried to reattach the tip without success.
The botched circumcision has resulted in a R1.1 million [$US72, 180] damages claim against the Gauteng MEC for Health.
The teenager’s mother, who is unemployed and lives in North West, instituted the R1.1m damages claim in the high court of Pretoria on behalf of her son.
According to the mother, it took three months for the private part to heal and doctors have told the boy that it is still too early to do reconstructive surgery.
The series of operations required will cost around R150 000 [$US9,840], the court heard.
The mother is blaming the doctor for her son’s deformity, saying the doctor was negligent.
She also charges that had the reaction been quicker, and the tip of the penis placed on ice and delivered to another hospital sooner, it was possible it could have been reattached. She said the doctor took his time in placing the penis tip on ice and arranging for her son to be taken to hospital.
If the tip and her son were rushed to hospital, his private part could have been saved, she said. Aside from the disfiguration, the boy suffered severe psychological shock and trauma, and had lost out on one of the “amenities” of life. She claimed R380 000 for his future medical expenses and R600 000 for trauma.
His lawyer, Greyling Erasmus, said the matter had been postponed to a date still to be determined.
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