A series of NHS blunders have caused 137 men to lose one of their testicles in the past six years, according to latest figures.
Some £2.8 million in compensation was dished out to those who were affected by the ‘devastating’ incidents – around £20,000 each.
The statistics, released by NHS Resolution – which is the litigation authority, revealed some of the most horrific cases that have occurred.
They include the case of an unidentified man who had his healthy testicle removed – rather than the cancerous one.
Another saw his testicle become gangrenous and had to be cut out after reportedly being given the wrong treatment for torsion.
Some £2.8 million in compensation was dished out to those who were affected by the ‘devastating’ incidents – around £20,000 each
The figures, given to The Sun, prompted concerns by medical negligence lawyers about the long-term effects.
Nicola Wainwright, of law firm Leigh Day, told the newspaper: ‘It is devastating, particularly if they are young and not yet in a long-term relationship.
‘They are embarrassed having to explain their injury to future partners.
‘It’s also a tragedy if they are hoping to have a family and are worried about their fertility.’
NHS Improvement said: ‘With incidents like this, our organisations examine what happened to understand what went wrong and identify how to improve their care.’
The NHS typically pays out around £20,000 when it admits it is at fault for leaving men as monorchid – the medical term for having just one testicle.
But payments for removing a man’s only healthy testicle in a surgical mix-up can be around £70,000 as the individual gets compensation for being left infertile.
Often the compensation figure includes a sum to pay for cosmetic surgery to provide the men with a false testicle.
In 2013, a 48-year-old company director, revealed he was taking legal action against Salisbury District Hospital after he had a healthy testicle removed by mistake.
The unnamed man had gone into theatre expecting a cancerous testicle would be removed, but 40 minutes after the operation a doctor realised the blunder.
The healthy testicle was then frozen, while a plastic surgeon was rushed to the scene and tried to undo the damage. He said he went through ‘incredible stress and strain’.
The most common reason for payouts is when medics misdiagnose testicular torsion where the tubes inside the body get twisted cutting off the blood supply.
The condition, which can happen after strenuous exercise, has to be diagnosed quickly as the testicle can be dead within a few hours.
Other claims result from the consequences of hernia operations where the blood supply to the testicle is accidentally cut off in the surgery.