Your penis is worth nine million dollars in Georgia

[CoolBreeze]

An Ellenwood Georgia man who said he suffered permanent scarring following a series of treatments for erectile dysfunction was awarded more than $9 million by a DeKalb County jury.

John Henry Howard, 53, was awarded $750,000 in compensatory damages and $8.5 million in punitive damages in his suit against Boston Men’s Health Center Inc.

During a six-day trial, Howard, a truck driver, testified he went to Boston Medical Group’s Atlanta clinic for help with erectile dysfunction in 2006.

He received an injection to his genitals using a proprietary formula that includes papaverine. That drug is used to improve blood flow, said Chad Ritenour, an assistant professor of urology and at the Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Men’s Health Center at the Emory Clinic.

Use of the drug can lead to priaprism, a prolonged erection for more than four hours, and to permanent damage and tissue scarring, Ritenour said, especially if it’s the same injection site.

Howard purchased a six-month supply of of the treatment for $1,210 and was instructed to inject himself with it three times a week.

Fred Orr, his Decatur attorney, argued his client was deceived into believing the regimen was a cure.

The defense said Howard waited too long to seek medical help after his first home self-injection led to complications.

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