Lawyer says client doesn’t feel like a man after penis removal

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. – The lawyer for a Kentucky man suing a doctor for amputating his penis told jurors Monday his client “doesn’t feel like a man.”

Kevin George, lawyer for truck driver Phillip Seaton, said during opening arguments in Shelby County Circuit Court that Dr. John Patterson had not given any indication there were concerns the man might have penile cancer when he went into surgery in 2007. Seaton was undergoing a circumcision to treat inflammation.

“He’s angry because Dr. Patterson took off his penis without asking, without giving him a choice, without giving him the opportunity to check around and talk to other people,” George said.

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But Clay Robinson, lawyer for Patterson, told jurors his client removed only the tip of Seaton’s penis because it was so riddled with deadly penile cancer it “had the appearance of rotten cauliflower.”

Robinson said another doctor removed the remainder of Seaton’s penis in a later procedure.

The doctor, Robinson said, was faced with “a dreaded dilemma” during surgery upon discovering the cancer, which he said is invasive and can only be treated by surgical removal.

“Mr. Seaton is here today, able to be in this courtroom … because John Patterson saved his life,” Robinson said.

During the morning proceedings, jurors were shown graphic images.

George presented four photographs of Seaton’s groin saying, “You can see there’s nothing there.”

Robinson offered up a photograph of the cancerous tip of a penis – not Seaton’s.

Seaton, of Waddy, and his wife, Deborah, are seeking unspecified damages from Patterson for “loss of service, love and affection.”