David Llewellyn Wins 2.3 Million Dollar Verdict!

Atlanta, Georgia
March 27, 2009

Attorneys David J. Llewellyn of Johnson & Ward, Atlanta, Georgia and Craig T. Jones of Edmond, Jones & Lindsay, LLP, Atlanta, Georgia today obtained a 2.3million dollar verdict in a case involving a boy who was permanently damaged in a botched circumcision at birth.

D. P., Jr. was born on November 5, 2004 at Tenet South Fulton Medical Center in East Point, Georgia, a small city adjacent to the Atlanta airport. He was circumcised on November 6, 2004 by Haiba Sonyika, M.D. The nurse assisting in the circumcision noted excessive bleeding and believed that excess tissue had been removed. In fact, a large portion of his glans penis had been severed.

In a suit filed in the State Court of Fulton County, Georgia in 2006 the child and his mother contended that Dr. Sonyika was negligent in performing the circumcision. They also contended that Dr. Cheryl J. Kendall, the child’s pediatrician, was negligent in not coming into the hospital to examine the child when she was informed of the nurse’s concern of continued bleeding and of tissue that looked like it had the tip of the penis in it. They further contended that the hospital’s nurses had a duty to make sure the child was examined by a doctor for the apparently wrongly severed tissue. Dr. Donald Block of Atlanta testified that Dr. Sonyika was negligent in the way she performed the circumcision. Dr. Robert Van Howe, Marquette, Michigan said in court that in his opinion the standard of care required Dr. Kendall to come in to the hospital to examine the boy or send another doctor to do so if she felt unqualified to handle the matter. Elizabeth Katz Sperlich, RN, of Santa Fe, New Mexico opined that the nurses should have insisted that a doctor come in to the hospital to address the severed tissue. Dr. M. David Gibbons, a pediatric urologist from Washington, D.C., testified that if a pediatric urologist had seen the child within 8 hours of the circumcision it was more probable than not that the severed piece could have been successfully reattached with good cosmetic and functional results. Instead, the tissue was placed in a biohazard bag and left at the nurses’ station. No doctor came in to examine the child after the nurse noted the severed tip. The tissue with the tip in it was eventually sent to pathology. The pathologist’s report confirmed the loss of part of the glans penis. A local pediatric urologist eventually diagnosed the boy with a significant circumcision injury resulting in an iatrogenic hypospadias, a physician-caused condition where the urinary opening is on the underside of the penis. Christopher Cold, M.D. of Marshfield, Wisconsin, a pathologist, confirmed the loss of glanular and urethral tissue from examination of slides of the severed tissue. Dr. Gibbons confirmed the iatrogenic hypospadias. Joseph Shrand, M.D., of Pembroke, Massachusetts testified that the boy and his family would need significant psychiatric counseling at various stages of his life in order to avoid a bad psychological outcome.

The jury found Drs. Sonyika and Kendall liable and awarded $1,800,000 to the child. The mother was awarded $500,000 for future medical expenses for psychiatric counseling while the boy is a minor. The hospital was not found liable. Mr. Llewellyn, a civil litigation attorney who regularly represents the victims of wrongful circumcision and genital injury in lawsuits throughout the United States, said, “I am pleased that Craig Jones and I were able to obtain justice for this permanently disfigured little boy. He has had a serious injury – one from which he will suffer his entire life. The accident could have been easily prevented. If the doctors had met the standard of care the damage could have been easily repaired. I am thrilled that the jury recognized those facts and held the responsible doctors accountable. This is a substantial verdict to rectify a substantial injustice. It is a perfect example of the way the jury system protects the rights of the people and works to improve medical practice.”

The case was D. P., Jr., et al. v. Sonyika, et al., Civil Action File No. 2006ev001125-J in the State Court of Fulton County, Georgia. Judge Diane E. Bessen presided over the two week trial.

Gate City II is a Regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons working under the jurisdiction of The Grand Lodge of Georgia. Our regular meetings are the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays January – May, September – November, the 2nd Tuesday in June, August and December and the 4th Tuesday in July. We meet at the Atlanta Masonic Center (formerly The Atlanta Masonic Temple) 1690 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309