Veteran Files Claim After Wrong Testicle Is Removed at VA Hospital in
Los Angeles
Wednesday, April 4, 2007            1423 PDT

LOS ANGELES, California  --  An Air Force veteran has filed a federal
claim after an operation at a Veterans Administration hospital in
which a healthy testicle was removed instead of a potentially
cancerous one.

Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed June
14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a
chance it could harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and
painful.

But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, according to
medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care
and unspecified damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle
removed.

"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles
Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them, 'What do I do now?'"

Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said
they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the
situation.

Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system,
has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife.

"We are making every attempt that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but
it's in litigation, and that's all we can tell you," he said. The
hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added.