Parents of 4-Year-Old Sue Urologist for 'Unintentional Vasectomy'

The parents of a 4-year-old are suing Texas Children's Hospital in Houston for giving their son an "unintentional vasectomy" during surgery for an inguinal hernia.

The boy had scrotal swelling that would increase in the evening, and his doctor, Susan Jarosz, DO, found that he had a hydrocele or hernia on the right side. Jarosz performed surgery to repair it in August 2021, with a resident assisting.

When the hernia sac was sent to pathology, however, according to the lawsuit, the report noted the presence of tissue from the vas deferens in the specimen, which the lawsuit alleges amounts to a vasectomy.

The Harris County district court lawsuit alleges that Jarosz was "negligent in providing medical treatment by failing to act as a reasonable healthcare provider should have done" in the same situation.

Randall Sorrels, an attorney for the parents, John and Krystal Brod, clarified in an email to MedPage Today that the hospital confirmed the transection of the vas deferens was accidental, and not bilateral. "There is a chance it won't matter because one side will hopefully work," Sorrels wrote. "There can be reversals, but those are not always successful."

According to the complaint and an accompanying press release shared with MedPage Today, hospital risk management staff apologized and advised the parents about the injury, which included possible problems with future fertility, and said they should inform the child about the injury when he is older. But according to the press release, full "accountability was not accepted."

"We are saddened by this injury that was thrust onto our son's life unnaturally, through no fault of his own," the family said, via Sorrels. "We are dreading the conversations we will have to have with him in his teenage years, and know he will have to have serious and unwanted conversations with whoever he will want to start a family with."

According to the lawsuit, negligence by Jarosz included not properly distinguishing or separating the hernia sac from the vas deferens before removing the hernia sac surgically, failing to carefully operate "without resecting the vas deferens tissue," failing to comply with safety protocol, and failing to maintain applicable standard of care.

Sorrels added in the email that there are no plans for the child to have another surgery, but that "he may have to have reproductive help in the future."

The lawsuit seeks $250,000 to $1,000,000 for damages including any future medical care, the "long-lasting effects ... including his fertility, as well as the emotional and psychological damage."

A statement from Texas Children's Hospital in an email to MedPage Today read: "Texas Children's Hospital's top priority is the health and well-being of our patients. Due to patient privacy requirements, we are unable to comment."

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