JURY AWARDS A MAN $9 MILLION DOLLARS AFTER ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION TREATMENT CAUSED SCARS!

A men's health provider was ordered to pay out more than $9M in damages after a course of erectile dysfunction treatments left a patient sexually aroused for two days and his manhood permanently scarred.
A Georgia jury has ruled that Boston Men's Health Center, Inc., must pay 53-year-old John Henry Howard $750,000 in compensatory damages and $8.5M in punitive, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

At trial, Howard reportedly testified he sought help for erectile dysfunction in 2006 at the company's Boston Medical Group facility in Atlanta.

After being treated with an initial injection to his penis, Howard purchased a six-month course of the medication, with instructions to inject himself three times per week, according to the paper's Web site,

Following his first at-home injection he reportedly experienced a two-day erection, and subsequent development of scar tissue.

The injections are said to include the drug papaverine, an opium derivative that can increase blood flow.

Priapism, or an erection lasting over four hours, is a known possible side-effect of the drug, Dr. Chad Ritenour, an assistant professor of urology at Emory's School of Medicine, told the Journal-Constitution. The drug carries additional risk if injections are repeatedly administered in the same spot.

An attorney for Howard, Fred Orr, reportedly said the clinic misled his client about the treatment.

"He believed what they told him," Orr said. "And because he believed what they told him he's permanently damaged."

Boston Medical maintains it explained to Howard how to properly inject himself and what to do in the event of an unusually long erection. Attorneys for the company maintain Howard waited too long before seeking medical attention following his 48-hour erection.

The company has until November 4 to file an appeal, the Journal-Constitution reports.

Boston Men's Health Center, Inc. runs 22 clinics in the U.S. and Puerto Rico under the name Boston Medical Group, according to its Web site. The Web site claims the company's physicians provided Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation treatment to more than 30K men.