Link: http://www.metro.co.uk/we..._page_id=2
Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Doctors' unions in Romania have criticised a decision to make a surgeon pay £100,000 in damages after he lost his temper and hacked off a patient's penis during surgery.

Surgeon Naum Ciomu, who had been suffering from stress at the time, had been operating on patient Nelu Radonescu, 36, to correct a testicular malformation when he suddenly lost his temper.

Grabbing a scalpel, he sliced off the penis in front of shocked nursing staff, and then placed it on the operating table where he chopped it into small pieces before storming out of the operating theatre at Bucharest hospital.

Romanian court has now awarded Radonescu £20,000 costs – to pay for the operation to rebuild his ruined penis using tissue from his arm – as well as 100,000 pounds in damages.

The medical costs will be paid by the hospital's insurer, but doctors' unions have criticised the decision that the money for the damages has to be paid by the doctor.

They say the move sets a dangerous precedent and that Professor Ciomu, a urologist and lecturer in anatomy, has already been punished enough after having his medical licence suspended.

They said he had been under stress and had lost his temper after he accidentally cut the man's urinary channel and 'overreacted' to the situation. He told the court it was a temporary loss of judgement due to personal problems.

Vice-president of the Romanian Doctors Union, Vasile Astarastoae, said: 'Ciomu's case is a dangerous precedent for all Romanian doctors. In future doctors may have to think very carefully about what work they undertake.'

Because obviously, the last thing you want is a doctor thinking carefully about the work they're doing.

The director of the ophthalmology hospital in Bucharest, Dr Monica Pop (yes, actually her name), agreed saying that doctors would in future avoid any cases where they could end up in court having to pay damages.

She added: 'Doctors in Romanian earn too little to be able to pay amounts like this. As a result it will be entirely fair if they only accept cases where they cannot make mistakes. The only way this can be avoided is if the insurance companies cover all the risk.'

Boy, that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase...ummm...

errr...

I got nothing.

2the9s said:

At least you got your penis!

superspaceboy said:

How do you know? You weren't in the Yahoo chat last night...

20 grand, is that all?

2the9s said:

Was that last night? I gotta check the time stamp on your domb threads from now on. I won't but it's sounds nice anyway.

Anyway wasn't that about your underwear?

That doctor should be put in prison.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Exactly. He fucking chopped someones dick off because he was angry? Who the fuck lets a surgeon near a knife when they are a pyscho who has tantrums during his work.

.
[Edited 1/17/07 18:55pm]

Illustrator said:

more like hack job. Iam sure the sun coulda come up with something much wittier though.

thesexofit said:

I see it as a criminal act. The doctor should definately pay out of his pocket and do jail time.

I'm amazed the patient didn't heal, find the doctor and beat the shit out of him.

I think the doctor should have to give his penis to the patient...

jtfolden said:

Now, see, the world needs more of this kind of thinking. I agree. This is a way better idea than prison. The guy should lose his medical license and be forced to give up his dick.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

A penis for a penis? Thats bible talk!!

thesexofit said:

I tend to think of it more as "let the punishment fit the crime".

HereToRockYourWorld said:

But still, it was not deliberate (as in he planned on doing it), so I don't agree with you on this. Lock the fucker up for sure, but no dick chopping.
[Edited 1/17/07 22:28pm]

cancel my extended leave to romania for an extensio---- I mean vacation.

Fauxie said:

is that a skull in your avatar?

evenstar3 said:

Yes it is. Do you like it? Retina came up with it. He said it speaks of my intellectual side, or something like that. I just thought it looked nice and friendly.

thesexofit said:

See, when you're a doctor and you've got somebody under anesthesia, I don't even care if it was premeditated. There's such a violation of trust there.

That said, locking the guy up. . . I think my original point was that it wouldn't be an overreaction, but that said, it's not like the guy is neccesarily a danger to society if he's out walking the streets. As long as he's not allowed to practice medicine, he probably (you never know) won't harm anybody else. So, why use public resources to keep him behind bars?

But as far as compensating the guy he injured. . . well. . . the guy may appreciate a bunch of cash, but what he is REALLY in need of right about now is a new dick. It's not about punishing the doctor. It's about his responsibility to fix the problem he created.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Certainly seems the most fitting punishment, imo. I'm not always a believer in the whole 'eye for an eye' ideal but in THIS particular case it just really seems like the perfect resolution/lesson for all involved.
[Edited 1/18/07 9:06am]

thesexofit said:

Now, just wait... The guy cut it off...and then laid it on a table... and then made stir-fry out of it. He may not have been much with the "down at the library drawing diagrams and writing out grand schemes" thing but the action WAS deliberate. For starters, he deliberately continued dealing with patients when he was obviously on the edge of some sort of emotional brink. I really doubt this is his first bad decision where a customer is concerned.

Prison really doesn't provide the right solution here.