Skip to main content

Kentucky Doctor Amputates Patient's Penis without Consent

A Kentucky man went into the hospital for a routine circumcision; he left without a penis.

Now he is suing his doctor for performing the amputation without his consent.

Phillip Seaton, 64, was supposed to just have his foreskin removed during the procedure in 2007. But when Dr. John Patterson tried to inset a catheter, he was unable to do so. It seems Seaton had a rare and fatal cancer, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

'What I saw was not a penis. What I saw was cancer,' Dr. Patterson testified.

Concerned about the cancer, obviously, and the immediate threat of kidney damage because of urinary retention, Dr. Patterson performed the procedure. He said he only cut one-inch of Seaton's penis; the rest was amputated by another doctor.

The lawsuit claims Dr. Patterson did all of this without permission. Seaton's wife was in the waiting room, but the doctor did not seek her approval because she did not accompany him to Seaton's office visits, nor did she go into the pre-op area with her husband. Dr. Patterson thought that was strange.

"My impression was she would not be someone I would ask what he would want," he told the court.

During opening statements, the doctor's lawyer said Seaton had signed the standard form authorizing treatment in unforeseen circumstances. However Seaton's lawyer said the document had to be read to him because Seaton cannot read.

"I didn't have no say in it," Seaton testified.

He also relived the horror when he was told what happened.

"I pulled the dressing down, and I didn't see nothing. Then I came out of the restroom and I said, 'I'm getting the hell out of this damn hospital.'"

It's not known how much money in damages Seaton is seeking.


Popular Video