Surgeon amputates patient’s penis thinking it was a tumour

The doctor is being investigated

The 30-year-old urologist is being investigated by Italy's top health officials after the horrific error in Arezzo's San Donato Hospital in November 2018.

He performed the operation to remove the ‘tumour’ on the organ a month after diagnosing the man, believed to be in his 60s, with cancer.

Reports suggest that the penis removal operation went down without a problem until later analysis revealed there was no reason for it to have occurred in the first place.

Italian media reports that the man was actually suffering from syphilis, and not cancer.

The victim, who has remained anonymous, has suffered "very serious damage" and complained that he now struggles to urinate and can no longer have sexual intercourse.

His ordeal was “as painful as it is embarrassing”, according to the Corriere di Arezzo, a local newspaper.

The patient is now seeking compensation from the medic over the procedure. The case has a preliminary court hearing scheduled for March 9, when a judge will decide if it should proceed to trial.

The surgeon who performed the operation, who is said to be highly regarded, no longer works at the hospital in Tuscany, but in a hospital in Milan.

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