Jury Awards Family $31 Million After Newborn Boy’s Botched Circumcision Severed His Penis
A jury in Clayton County, Georgia, awarded a boy and his family nearly $31 million for a botched circumcision he received as a newborn.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the boy received the circumcision in October 2013 at Life Cycle Pediatrics. The boy, who was 18-days-old at the time, reportedly suffered a severed penis during the procedure.
In the lawsuit, filed by the boy's family, the family alleged the clinic staff sent the child home with a bleeding penis instead of suggesting it be surgically reattached.
Midwife Melissa Jones (pictured above during trial) and Dr. Brian Register were found liable last Friday when the jury handed down their decision, reported the Daily Mail.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Neal Pope, said the child, will suffer mental anguish for years because of his deformity. There is also physical pain from chronic scabbing.
While Defense attorney Terrell W. Benton, who represents the midwife and doctor, told the jury Thursday that $1 million should cover the boy’s medical expenses, Pope insisted that would not be enough.
As part of his argument, Pope displayed a picture of LeBron James and said the NBA star made $99 million in three years. Pope went on to say the boy, based on current life expectancy statistics, could live another 69 years.
“I think the case is a $100 million case,” said Pope.