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$700,000 Infant Circumcision Settlement




Infant sustains partial amputation during bris
Parents say they suffered severe emotional distress; $700,000 settlement
Published: 9:25 am Thu, June 21, 2012     
By Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff

An 8-day-old Massachusetts baby suffered an amputation of a portion of the ventral glans of his penis at a Jewish brit milah circumcision ceremony (bris) at a private residence. The plaintiffs maintained that the doctor/mohel was negligent in his performance of the procedure.

The doctor/mohel allegedly failed to re-examine the child between the ceremony and the time that the child left for the hospital. Upon arrival, the child was rushed to an operating room for emergency surgery as a result of an amputation of his ventral glans and a traumatic hypospadias, or damage to the opening of the urethra.

The child was released from the hospital the following day with a catheter inserted into his penis, only to return to the hospital later that night because the catheter had fallen out. After a lengthy effort to re-insert the catheter, during which time the child screamed in agony, a decision was made to have family members insert a tube into the child’s penis numerous times a day over a 10-day period.

The child suffers from a permanently disfigured penis, hypospadias and remaining foreskin. He has experienced night terrors and may require further surgery for medical and/or cosmetic reasons.

His parents, who claimed to have suffered severe emotional distress, fear the emotional difficulties the child will face as he matures and deals with, among other things, school locker rooms and/or romantic relationships.

Action: Medical malpractice

Injuries alleged: Amputation of portion of ventral glans, emotional damage

Case name: Withheld

Court/case no.: Withheld

Jury and/or judge: N/A (mediated)

Amount: $700,000.00

Date: March 2012

Most helpful experts: Henry E. Simkin, M.D., and John P. Gearhart, M.D

Attorneys: Paul J. Klehm, James B. Krasnoo and Benjamin L. Falkner, of Krasnoo|Klehm, Andover (for the plaintiffs)


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6 comments:

  1. that makes me so sad. I am Jewish I raise my child to be that way although I do not have a son yet... when I do I am not going to have him circumsized after reading this horific story. My husband is Latino & he is not so I dont see why my son should be. I am sorry this happened to this family. May it heal the best possible.. loving thoughts & prayers your way....

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  2. This could have been prevented in the first place! I'm sick to my stomach right now.

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  3. Yes, it could have been prevented had the parents decided not to put their child through an act of torture disguised as a religious ceremony. That is just an excuse to control people in the name a God that would never ask to torture a child this way in His name. It is the lack of awareness of what a Loving God truly is, that keeps this barbaric custom alive.

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  4. Yes, it could have been prevented had the parents decided not to put their child through an act of torture disguised as a religious ceremony. That is just an excuse to control people in the name a God that would never ask to torture a child this way in His name. It is the lack of awareness of what a Loving God truly is, that keeps this barbaric custom alive.

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  5. Sorry, this is a terrible story and I am so sad for this poor baby that has to suffer in such an unspeakable way but... this sentence: "The child suffers from a permanently disfigured penis, hypospadias and remaining foreskin." made me LOL in a twisted way. I mean, really??? He SUFFERS from REMAINING FORESKIN??!! Nice, ARC... real nice.

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  6. Yeoman Roman7/14/2012 11:28 AM

    You know what? $700,000 is nothing, NOTHING, for an injury like this. That is like $23/day for a typical life of 30,000 days. Completely inadequate, recompense if you ask me.

    Perfectly avoidable, if his parents were able to see a child as an individual, with his own body and rights to his body. They could have said "No!" to circumcision.

    Mutilating a child's genitals doesn't make you special, it just damages his sexuality.

    And the funny thing is, the glans is not that sensitive, just to pressure. So the "damage" that is being paid for is primarily cosmetic damage.

    When the circumcision scar of a "normal" circumcision is see as equally disfiguring, then we'll have made some progress. In truth, a "normal" circumcision is FAR more damaging to the function of the penis, than most Americans are aware of. It removes and destroys 3/4 of the sexual nerves making it's owner a sexual invalid. Here in America, people are loathe to admit it, but it is true.

    700,000 is not enough to recompense me for my very Jewish and very typical circumcision.

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