Freedom's Fidelity

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Ear Vasectomy? Reuters reports this today:

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian man who went to a clinic to have an aching ear checked ended up having a vasectomy after mistakenly believing that the doctor had called his name.
A manager at the Doctor Jose Carlos de Espirito Santo clinic in the town of Montes Claros in southeastern Minas Gerais State told Reuters on Wednesday Valdemar Lopes de Moraes, 39, entered the vasectomy room when Aldemar Aparecido Rodrigues' name was called.

"He was called by the full name and yet thought it was him. But the strangest thing is that he asked no questions when the doctor started preparations in the area which had so little to do with his ear," Vanessa Guimaraes said.

"He later explained that he thought it was an ear inflammation that got down to his testicles," she added.

De Moraes, a farmer who has two children, did not want to reverse the operation, performed last week, and showed up for an ear exam on Wednesday at the same clinic.

"A local newspaper said he is going to sue us, but he did not tell us about any claims," Guimaraes said.

My first thought is all the absurd lawsuits I hear about and this guy isn't taking part?!? Then again, Brazilian doctors may not have deep enough pockets, but certainly there is the hospital, or an American that invested in Brazil nuts that one could convince a jury was negligent in some way.

My second thought is to cut him some slack and assume that, because of his ear infection, he couldn't hear whose name it was being called. Combine those circumstances with the fact that there are few things more barren of patience than a doctor's waiting room and you can see where the eagerness was born. But then you read that he never stopped them when they started preparing.... that "area which had so little to do with his ear". So I ask, what man would unquestionably allow that kind of action in his nether regions when he's in for an earache? Clearly, this is a case of modern evolution in action.

posted by Paul  permalink | |