February 20, 1996
Web posted at: 7:15 a.m. EST
From Correspondent Greg Lamotte
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Ron Nance says he thought he'd found his answer to "eternal happiness" when he read an article about surgery to enhance penis size. He found a doctor in the Los Angeles area -- and underwent the surgery.
But the results were far less than he hoped for.
"When the medication wore off, my life went to the pits," Nance says. "I've never experienced so much pain in my life."
And his penis is actually smaller than it was originally.
"I wound up with a penis that is kinked because there's not enough skin to let it come out any further," he says. (162K AIFF sound or 162K WAV sound)
Nance and several dozen other men have filed suit against Dr. Melvyn Rosenstein, claiming they have been maimed or harmed for life as a result of the doctors' penile enhancement procedure.
"They have scarring, visible scarring, hair growing down the shaft of their penis, a lot of lumps, uneven shape," says plaintiff's attorney Keith Schulner.
Late last week, Rosenstein had his license to practice urology in the state of California suspended, but Tom Brown, the doctor's attorney defended his record. Rosenstein, Brown said, has done some 5,000 penile enhancement procedures, and only 37 of those patients have sought relief in the courts. (196K AIFF sound or 196K WAV sound)
"That's less than one tenth of one percent," Brown says.
The procedure is experimental, and does not have the backing of the American Urological Association.
"The complications can really be ravenous to the male genitalia."
-- Dr. Mark Litwin, a urologist at the University of California- Los Angeles Medical Center. (170K AIFF sound or 170K WAV sound)
Patients who undergo the procedure are required to sign a waiver prior to the surgery that, in essence, says there are no guarantees. But many of those filing suit say they weren't asked to sign the waiver until the day of the surgery.
Nance says that the lawsuit isn't just about money -- although the surgery runs as high as $5,900, and he has spent about $10,000 to correct Rosenstein's work. Instead, Nance says, he wants to regain himself.
"I'm not the man I used to be," he says. "...I need to get Ron back is what I need. That's my loss." (196K AIFF sound or 196K WAV sound)
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