Man With Faulty Penile Implant Gets $400K By RAY HENRY, Associated Press
Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A former handyman has won more than $400,000 in a
lawsuit over a penile implant that gave him a 10-year erection.

Charles "Chick" Lennon, 68, received the steel and plastic implant in
1996, about two years before Viagra went on the market. The Dura-II is
designed to allow impotent men to position the penis upward for sex,
then lower it.

But Lennon could not position his penis downward. He said he could no
longer hug people, ride a bike, swim or wear bathing trunks because of
the pain and embarrassment. He has become a recluse and is uncomfortable
being around his grandchildren, his lawyer said.

In 2004, a jury awarded him $750,000. A judge called that excessive and
reduced it to $400,000. On Friday, the Rhode Island Supreme Court
affirmed that award in a ruling that turned on a procedural matter.

"I don't know any man who for any amount of money would want to trade
and take my client's life," said Jules

D'Alessandro, Lennon's attorney. "He's not a whole person."

A lawyer representing both Dura-II manufacturer Dacomed Corp. and the
company's insurer declined to comment. Dacomed maintained that nothing
was wrong with the implant.

The implant consists of a series of plastic plates strung together with
steel surgical wire, almost like a roll of wrapped coins. Springs press
against the plates, creating enough surface tension to simulate an
erection, D'Alessandro said.

Lennon cannot get the implant removed because of health problems,
including open-heart surgery, his lawyer said. Impotence drugs could not
help Lennon even if he were able to have the device taken out, because
tissue had be to removed for it to be implanted.

Dacomed was later acquired by a California company whose sales dropped
when Viagra was introduced on the market.

The company filed for bankruptcy the following year.

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc