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Injections 'completely ruined' man's penis, lawsuit says. He wins $412 million

Sara Schilling, The Charlotte Observer on

Published in News & Features

A jury in New Mexico awarded $412 million to a man who sued over what he said were unnecessary erectile dysfunction shots that decimated his penis, court documents and his attorneys said.

The jury awarded $37 million in compensatory damages and $375 million in punitive damages on Nov. 25 in the case in Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque, documents said.

The man’s attorneys said it may be the largest medical malpractice award in history, and with interest, it’s expected to exceed $550 million.

“Because of corporate fraud and greed, (the man) faces irreversible harm that has profoundly impacted his body and his life,” Nick Rowley, one of his attorneys, said in a news release.

The 72-year-old man’s penis is “completely ruined,” Rowley said.

The lawsuit names NuMale, a national company with a location in Albuquerque, as well as several people involved with the company.

Brad Palubicki, NuMale Medical Center president, said the company is “committed to providing safe, high-quality patient care.”

“While we respect the judicial process, due to ongoing legal proceedings, we cannot comment on specific details of the case at this time,” he wrote in an email to McClatchy News.

The man who brought the lawsuit sought care at NuMale’s Albuquerque clinic in 2017 for testosterone replacement therapy and weight loss, his attorneys and court documents said.

However, he was misdiagnosed as having erectile dysfunction and sold on a $5,000 treatment program based on that misdiagnosis, the news release said. The treatment included testosterone pellet implantation and injections in his penis, the attorneys said.

 

The pellets were implanted at the clinic, and “a medical assistant provided (the man) penis medication, including reversal medication, and taught him how to inject them at home,” the release said.

He eventually determined the medications weren’t working and returned for a follow-up, where his technique was criticized, his attorneys said.

A physician assistant “went on to ‘demonstrate’ the penis injection and sent (the man) home with a medically induced and medically unnecessary erection,” the release said.

The erection wouldn’t go away, and he eventually needed emergency surgery, which was unsuccessful, the attorneys said.

“(The man) is now impotent and unable to have an erection, cannot urinate standing up, and has irreversible fibrosis of the penis or scar tissue where living cells used to be. His impotence is permanent and the damage is completely irreversible,” the release said.

Keith Bruno, one of the man’s attorneys, said NuMale “falsely marketed its clinic as a Male Health and Wellness Center” and “took advantage of (him) and lied to him about a fake diagnosis, all in the interest of turning a profit on someone’s livelihood.”

The verdict “sends a powerful message that medical providers cannot prioritize profits over patients’ well-being without being held accountable,” Bruno said in the release.

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