At one point or other, most of us have said something like, “I’d give my left nut if I could….” That always seems like a pretty safe comment. After all, chances are pretty slim that we’d actually have to sacrifice a testicle for whatever it is we want. And even if we did, we’d still have one left. So how much is one nut worth? Of course, everyone has his own prices. But I’m betting that it’s usually going to be a hell of a lot more than $40,000—especially if it’s your last one.
Unfortunately, $40,000 (£20,000) is the only compensation you’ll get in the UK if one of their docs removes the wrong ball—something that’s happened 56 times over the last 4 years alone. In the majority of cases, the man in question didn’t need surgery at all, and in other cases, docs had to remove the second one as well. In one of the great understatements of all times, Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern for the National Health Service told The Sun newspaper, ‘It is amazing that surgeons don’t always take enough care to guarantee that they are removing the correct testicle. Despite the huge total compensation bill, individual payments sound modest for wrecking men’s lives.’
The most common conditions that could require testicle removal are testicular torsion (where the tubes get twisted and cut off blood supply), hernia operations that accidentally cut off blood flow to the testicle, and testicular cancer, the most common cause of cancer in males 15-45.
So next time you get close to offering up one of your nuts for something really great, make sure you’re getting your money’s worth…
