The cruel cut that ruined a man's life

26dec99

A PERTH man has won a $360,000 damages payout after a WA doctor admitted he
botched a circumcision operation which left the man with a badly deformed
penis.

The man, 26, who was operated on at birth, has never had sexual intercourse.

Due to a lack of information on neonatal circumcision, he grew up believing
he was deformed. He was unable to obtain an erection until he had corrective
surgery at the age of 18.

The man, who wants to be known only as "John", said he has a permanent lack
of sensation in his penis but has also suffered extreme pain.

He suffered severe psychological problems from his late teens which led to
an attempted suicide at 18, six months after partially successful
reconstructive surgery.

In January 1992 when his injuries were diagnosed as a bungled surgery, he
turned against his parents, hating them for allowing the awful operation to
be done.

In 1997 he sued the GP who circumcised him.

This month John received an out-of-court settlement after the doctor
admitted liability for the injuries and agreed to the payout.

His lawyer Hayden Stephens, from law firm Slater and Gordon, said the payout
was one of the biggest in Australia for that type of injury.

"This young man has suffered a horrific consequence as a result of this
negligent procedure and he now has to live with the problem for the rest of
his life," Mr Stephens said.

"I am really pleased for him, but no amount of money will ever truly
compensate him for the injuries he has suffered."

Now completing a doctorate in medical science, John said he took legal
action in a bid to draw attention to circumcision and to try to eradicate it
in Australia, if not the world.

He said circumcision was a disgusting, unnecessary act of mutilation which
the medical profession had forced on unsuspecting parents for years.

"For my whole life I've been imprisoned in pain and exiled from pleasure.
I'm serving a prison sentence for a crime that someone else committed -
that's the reality for me," he said.

In John's operation, still routinely performed without anaesthetic in
Australian hospitals, almost all the penile skin was removed which prevented
the penis from growing normally.

John said: "Parents want to see their children grow up to live healthy and
happy lives and many parents have consented to circumcision because the
Australian medical profession convinced them it was a quick and painless
procedure that was essential to avoid health problems.

"Not only is the claim that it is beneficial wrong, the AMA has not
adequately informed parents of the surgical risks involved.

"I took legal action against the doctor who circumcised me because I hate
circumcision and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did nothing to
stop other babies being injured and mutilated in the same way as me.

"I don't want to walk down the street and see a young mother with baby boys
and wonder and worry whether they've had done to them what was done to me."

Born in 1973, John's "routine" operation became a nightmare he has had to
cope with all his life.

The young GP who delivered him cut away far too much skin and had to stretch
the remaining soft, scrotal tissue and stitch it in place.

The result was a mess.

"The shape isn't right, the length isn't right - it's shorter than it should
be - and the glans (head) is actually twisted a bit," John said.

Believing he was deformed, he hid from embarrassing changeroom and shower
situations at school.

Throughout adolescence - difficult enough years when all is well - the
psychological harm matched his physical scars.

He was more interested in science than sport and became withdrawn and
studious.

He prospered academically but psychologically was crying for help.

When he went to university, he realised he had a serious problem and the
bungled circumcision was diagnosed.

He fought severe depression and contemplated suicide but opted for surgery,
hoping it could save him.

"The pain involved in that was horrific and it lasted for years and still
now I get aches and pains from time to time," he said.

"With all the pain, the psychological trauma and embarrassment that went
with having that surgery, it wasn't worth it.

"But I was 18 years old, I had something very badly wrong with me and I was
desperate.

"I had to try something."

Skin was taken from his upper thighs and grafted to his penis, but he was
left with little real sensation.

The grafted skin had unsightly leg hairs growing from it, which required
electrolysis and caused further scarring.

He remains angry that he was circumcised unnecessarily and that the medical
profession continues to push the operation on unknowing parents. He is
outraged that 12 per cent of Australian boys are still circumcised.

"Babies should never be circumcised," he said.

"My case was a totally unnecessary circumcision. Yet my mother and father
were told it was essential for me to be circumcised to avoid health
problems."

John said some medical authorities still claimed circumcision reduced the
rate of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases - a claim he says
has been proven wrong by medical data.

He said it was wrong that doctors, who charged about $200 to perform a
circumcision, continued to make a small fortune from such a potentially
harmful procedure.

"I have been assaulted and mutilated and for my whole life I am living with
an injury," he said.

John said his injuries had made it almost impossible to contemplate a
relationship with a woman and he found it hard to make friends.

He was angry with his parents but he now acknowledged the operation was not
their fault.

His mother, a close and loving supporter who carries her own guilt over the
surgery, said: "He's never had a relationship with a woman because of how he
feels about his body.

"At the most important stage of his life when he should have been dating and
girls were showing an interest in him, he withdrew."

She said they should have been told how to clean a boy's foreskin, not
advised to have a circumcision.

His mother also regretted the blunder was not diagnosed earlier so he could
have had corrective surgery at a younger age.

John said he would like to see a support group established in Australia for
men who have problems due to circumcision.

Information on circumcision is available on the Internet. The address is
http://www.cirp.org

http://www.news.com.au/news_content/sdt/4181944.htm