When Philip Seaton woke up after surgery in 2007, it was too late - make that way, way too late - to seek a second opinion.
The Kentucky man was in court Thursday, suing his doctor for amputating his penis during what was scheduled as a routine circumcision to relieve inflammation.
Seaton and his wife Deborah are seeking unspecified damages from Dr. John Patterson to compensate the couple for "loss of service, love and affection."
Jury selection in the case began Thursday, with the ponytailed plaintiff seated alongside his attorney.
An attorney for Patterson said the Louisville doctor had to remove Seaton's penis after discovering cancer during the surgery.
But the lawsuit contends that even if Patterson did find cancer during the Oct. 19, 2007, procedure, it was a non-emergency situation - and Seaton never had a chance to consider other options.
"It didn't have to happen that way," he said in 2008, when the lawsuit was filed.
His attorney, Kevin George, said in a pre-trial hearing that the case is simple: Whether jurors find Patterson's decision was "a necessary part of the surgery."
Defense attorney Clay Robinson maintains the doctor "had no reasonable option" other than removing the cancer - and the penis.
The Seatons have already reached an undisclosed settlement with Jewish Hospital, where the surgery was done.
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