You Call That An Accident

I don’t know if a doctor has ever done this to anyone I know. I don’t know if any of the doctors I know have ever done this, but I imagine if they have, they know the sensation of being punched in the face. And, that’s the least of their worries due to malpractice suits and medical boards.

Accidental Vasectomies

There is a family in Texas dealing with a doctor’s malpractice. Their 4-year-old son was the victim of an unintentional vasectomy. How could that happen? What was the doctor thinking? If you haven’t heard the story, it goes like this.

The poor kid was in the hospital for hernia surgery. Part of the procedure involves working near the groin. The family's attorney claims the surgeon cut the wrong part of the poor kids’ anatomy.

It’s Happened Before So Be Careful At Hospitals

Another patient in a different hospital received an accidental vasectomy when going in for a urological procedure. The Royal Liverpool Hospital apologized “unreservedly to the patient” and offered him their full support. Hopefully, that included his first bag of peas.

Due to the WHO’s surgical safety list not being followed, the young man was eligible for up to $150,000 in compensation for the “slip-up.” It’s arguable whether a slip-up is a strong enough term for such a mistake.

In 2019 a Houston man sued a local doctor for giving him a wrongful vasectomy. Much like the 4-year-old, this was in Texas. The guy had no idea what was happening, as he expected to have a cyst removed.

An accidental vasectomy recipient in Iowa was 38 years old when his circumcision went wrong. 38-year-old Burmese immigrant, ZAW ZAW, received a 1.4 million dollar settlement as part of his award for the accidental “slip-up”.

Do Doctors Take Vasectomies Too Lightly

Thinking about the multiple stories of wrongfully committed vasectomies, I recall working at a local hospital and one of the doctors approaching me. He said that he’d heard I needed a procedure and he could help me out, off the books.

Good old Dr. Davis was talking about a vasectomy. He even offered to spare the costs, by skipping the anesthesia. There’s nothing funny about snipping a man’s genitals as it’s an extremely personal, and scary, idea.

Perhaps, it’s possible, that in the surgical world, doctors take the procedures like a vasectomy lightly. Maybe it’s a source of humor. But, when a four-year-old is injured by a vasectomy it’s time doctors start being more careful and keeping their skills and professionalism in line with what patients expect, and deserve.

My Final Thoughts

In just five minutes, I was able to find four stories about accidental vasectomies. That’s far too many wrongful vasectomies and leaves one to wonder what they’d find with a deep dive into the subject. If you’re having anything done at a hospital, especially you guys, make sure that you’re paying attention before, during, and after procedures involving locals and ask plenty of questions when you come out of the anesthesia.

As the recipient of a botched urological procedure, these types of occurrences pose a very real risk to men's physical and mental health. When it is involving your health, it's bad enough. Much of a man's identity is defined by his penis. Sexual health is as important as physical health and it is human nature to procreate. Doctors playing around, or not doing their absolute best when it comes to surgery is just unacceptable and the ones that are guilty of malpractice, negligence, or intentional harm should be sued, taken to the medical board, and their licenses taken away from them.