Testicular Torsion

⇐ BACK TO SETTLEMENTS AND VERDICTS INDEX

CASE: Failure to diagnose testicular torsion

FACTS/LIABILITY: 19-year-old male plaintiff awoke with severe pain in his right groin. His pain continued unabated and he vomited twice over the next hour as he tried to go about his normal activities. He sought treatment at 9:30 a.m. that morning at defendant Health Center where defendant Nurse Practitioner assumed responsibility for his care. At the time he saw defendant NP, plaintiff was suffering acute testicular torsion. Testicular torsion, a condition where the spermatic cord twists, occluding the blood supply to the testicle, is a surgical emergency. A nurse practitioner treating a patient with acute torsion must refer the patient for emergency surgery to de-torse and restore blood flow to the testicle within twelve to twenty-four hours or the testicle will become necrotic and unsalvageable.
Defendant NP failed to diagnose testicular torsion. She failed to include torsion in her differential diagnosis and took no steps to diagnose it or rule it out. All that was required for defendant NP to diagnose plaintiff’s torsion was a simple scrotal exam, a step that would have taken a few minutes and would have cost nothing. As a consequence, plaintiff’s torsion went undiagnosed until after his testicle had become necrotic and could not be saved. Unfortunately, because plaintiff was born with only one testicle, defendants’ failure to diagnose his torsion left him without testicles.

DEFENSE: General denial of liability; Defendants alleged pre-existing infertility

INJURIES: Loss of testicle, infertility, lifelong testosterone therapy

SPECIAL DAMAGES: Approximately $65,000 in past and future medical bills, costs of adoption.

SETTLEMENT: The parties agreed to settle for a confidential amount.

PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL: Kimberly Kirkland and Randolph J. Reis, Reis & Kirkland, PLLC

CASE/COUNTY: Anonymous v. Anonymous