A Texas family is outraged and taking action against a hospital that mistakenly performed a partial vasectomy on their 4-year-old.
The child, identified in court documents as “R.B,” was initially undergoing surgery for a right inguinal hernia repair after the child experienced right-sided swelling in his scrotum area. Doctor Susan L. Jarosz recommended and performed the procedure.
The surgery took place on August 4th at Texas Children’s Hospital, but instead of removing the hernia, Jarosz severed the vas deferens, the tube that expels the sperm from the testes. While going in laparoscopically, which means not an open incision, Jarosz “failed to identify” what she was cutting while viewing the 2-D model on the screen and clipped the wrong tube.
The family is suing Texas Children’s Hospital and Jarosz for up to $1 million for negligence. Their court documents state that the child will likely experience fertility issues as he matures and require future medical care. Immediately following the surgery, Jarosz and hospital risk management advised the parents of the possible long-term and short-term effects.
”We have had past cases of wrongful vasectomies but never in someone so young and innocent and with so much future ahead of him,” said family attorney Randy Sorrels.
Texas Children’s Hospital maintains that its “top priority is the health and well-being of our patients.”
This a very well known risk and complication of the surgery. I haven’t met a single paediatric surgeon who has not damaged the vas before.