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Arizona—23-year-old Kenneth “Ryan” Irby thought he was going to have a simple biopsy on his right testicle when he went to University Medical Center on May 8, 2007. His understanding was that the surgeon would only remove his testicle if it turned out to be cancerous. So, when Irby woke up he assumed that his testicle was cancerous since it was gone. He even shook the doctor’s hand to thank him for saving his life—or so he thought. But when Irby went to a follow-up appointment a week later, the doctor informed him that the biopsy results were negative and that he didn’t have cancer.

Consequently, Irby sued University Physicians Healthcare and a trial is now underway. Irby spent much of Wednesday afternoon telling jurors about his ordeal and how the loss of his testicle has affected his life. According to Irby, he was involved in a rollover car accident on April 7, 2007 and went to the hospital complaining of pain. Physicians at the hospital ordered an ultrasound, but Irby opted not to wait for the results at the hospital since he figured the pain was accident-related. However, a few hours later he received a phone call from the doctors telling him that they had found a mass and that he needed a biopsy.

According to Irby’s testimony, he came back to the hospital on May 4th for a follow-up appointment prior to the biopsy and the doctor told him that there was a mass on his left testicle—not his right. In addition, the doctor also informed him that there was a calcium buildup on his right testicle that could be scraped off at a later time. Later, after doing a second ultrasound, the doctor corrected himself and said the mass was actually on the right side, not the left. On May 8, Irby said that the doctor confirmed that he would be doing the biopsy and would only remove the testicle if it was cancerous. Irby later learned that the mass was a hematoma and argues that his life isn’t the same anymore. Nevertheless, the doctors argue that Irby knew their was a 5% chance that the mass was benign, but that he also knew it was necessary for the testicle to be removed to perform the biopsy.

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