Lawsuit: Surgery Left Man With 80-Pound Scrotum

An Oregon couple want Kaiser Permanente to pay them more than $1 million, claiming the hernia surgery the husband obtained from the health care provider ultimately cost him his left testicle, Courthouse News reports. But before that happened, according to a lawsuit filed this month in Portland, the man experienced "significant testicle and scrotal pain and swelling, his scrotum at one point swelling to 80 pounds and over 48" in diameter," following the 2011 operation for what Kaiser diagnosed as a bilateral inguinal hernia. The suit claims the condition continued "for a three-year duration."

After seeking treatment from Kaiser on different occasions between 2011 and 2014, the patient went to another doctor, who "promptly" referred him to a specialist for corrective surgery. In addition to losing a testicle, the man says he is now sterile and, as a result, his wife has lost the ability to conceive a child with him, according to the complaint. He further alleges Kaiser failed to diagnose and treat the condition, as well as failed to refer him to another doctor who could. He and his wife are seeking $1 million in non-medical damages and $77,760 for lost wages. (Kaiser was sued last year over penis "erosion.")