TUCSON, Ariz. – A jury cleared a Tucson doctor in a malpractice suit filed by a man who claimed one of his testicles was mistakenly removed.
It took Pima County Superior Court jurors less than 45 minutes to decide Tuesday that Dr. Jonathan Walker was not negligent in the surgery on 23-year-old Kenneth "Ryan" Irby on May 4, 2007.
Irby says he underwent a biopsy on his right testicle at University Medical Center and believed it would be surgically removed only if it was cancerous.
When he woke up, Irby says his testicle was gone and he assumed it must have been cancerous. But during a follow-up appointment a week later, Irby learned the biopsy was negative and his testicle had only been bruised in an earlier car crash.
Walker's attorneys say Irby signed a surgery consent form and knew a biopsy couldn't be done without removing the testicle for fear of spreading any cancer.
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