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Del. man sues doctor after implant leaves him with 8-month erection

WILMINGTON, Del. — A truck driver who says a penile implant gave him an erection that lasted eight months described in court Tuesday how the procedure caused him to withdraw from much of life, wearing long, baggy sweat pants and a long shirt to hide his condition.

Daniel Metzgar, 44, of Newark, testified in New Castle County Superior Court in Wilmington in his medical malpractice lawsuit against Wilmington urologist Dr. Thomas Desperito. He told jurors the inflatable prosthesis made him feel like less of a man.

Colleen D. Shields, Desperito’s lawyer, said in her opening statement that sometimes bad medical results occur through the fault of no one. She also said that the urologist told Metzgar the prosthesis had to be removed four months after the surgery when Metzgar complained of an infection and that the erection wasn’t going down.

Shields said Metzgar didn’t do anything for months after that visit, the News Journal of Wilmington reports.

Metzgar had the procedure in December 2009. He said he lost his insurance afterward and didn’t have $10,000 he said Desperito wanted before he would do the surgery.

The prosthesis was removed in August 2010 after tubing from the device punctured Metzgar’s scrotum. He now has a replacement prosthesis from another doctor.

But Metzgar says scar tissue from the first surgery left him about 50 percent smaller and he does not get the same level of sensation.

Metzgar and his wife, Donna, are seeking unspecified damages from Desperito and his medical group.