Abigail Lewin is a health writer particularly interested in lifestyle health issues such as obesity and high cholesterol, and their treatment. An American man has won millions of pounds in damages after a jury ruled that an American clinic treating him for erectile dysfunction left him permanently damaged.
Jon Henry Howard first came into contact with the Boston Medical Group when he heard their advert on the radio, promising ‘sex for life’. He contacted them and went to their clinic, where he was confronted with brochures that warned him not to buy Viagra or other oral ED treatments. Clinic staff then told him that their treatments were safer than going to his doctor or an online pharmacy to buy Viagra or some other pill and promised that their treatments were ‘virtually painless.”
Boston Medical operate 22 clinics across the U.S and Puerto Rico and according to their website, the clinic provided over 30,000 men with treatment for erectile dysfunction last year. Howard was told that the clinic would inject a secret formula into his penis, which would allow him to achieve an erection. This was discovered to be papaverine, a drug that the Food and Drug Administration have warned should not be used to treat erectile dysfunction. Howard said that at first he achieved the best erection of his life, so was happy to buy a six-month supply of the drug to inject at home. Two weeks later however he developed an erection that did not go down and became painful. Upon seeking treatment at the Piedmost Hospital in Georgia, he was told that the papaverine had caused fibrosis, leading to scar tissue developing in his penis. He is now unable to achieve an normal erection. While it is fairly rare for men with erectile dysfunction to suffer long-term damage after seeking treatment, the medical world has become increasingly aware of impotent men putting their health at risk. Usually this has been due to them seeking Viagra online and using an online pharmacy to buy Viagra , which has actually being selling counterfeit medication. The big drugs companies have warning customers about the dangers of buying Viagra online , though there are some legitimate online pharmacys . However it is fairly rare to hear of men visiting a registered medical clinic in person and being mis-prescribed treatment. The Boston Medical Group argued that Howard waited too long before seeking medical help and said that they had fully explained how he should take the infections and what to do if there was a complication. The jury however decided that they were at fault and Mr. Howard was awarded $750,000 in compensatory damages and $8.5 million in punitive damages.