A bungling urologist is under investigation after he amputated a patient's penis because of a non-existent tumour.
The 30-year-old surgeon is accused of causing serious injury to the unnamed patient from the municipality of Arezzo in Italy's Tuscany region.
He performed the operation at San Donato Hospital in Arezzo on November 13, 2018.
This was after the unnamed patient was incorrectly diagnosed, who is believed to be in his late sixties.
The procedure was carried out without a hitch, but during analysis of the amputated member, it quickly transpired that there was no tumour.
The devastated patient is now seeking compensation from the medic over the mutilation. The case has a preliminary court hearing scheduled for March 9 in Arezzo.
A similar case was reported earlier this year, after an army warrant officer had half of his penis removed as his cancer was misdiagnosed three times by doctors and was told he may only have a year to live.
Despite having an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his penis, the 45-year-old was given the crushing news that the cancer had spread and he may only have a year to live.
Gavin Brooks, of Crewe, Cheshire, went to army doctors three times in 2021 after he experienced a tight ring of skin around his foreskin and later a lesion on the tip of his penis.
His GP thought he had a genital wart, but Gavin was not convinced and believed it to be Lichen sclerosus, a condition that causes patchy, discoloured, hard skin on the penis, which should be passed on to a dermatologist.
Dad-of-two Gavin said: "The best way I can describe it like a ring of tissue or hard skin within the foreskin.
"The skin that connects the foreskin to the penis broke and would bleed and cause pain when I would go for a wee, I knew this wasn't normal and that I had to get it checked out.
"After three weeks, I went to the army doctors and I suggested it could be Lichen sclerosus.
"The army doctors thought it was a wart but I didn't know how I'd got one as I'd been married for 20 years and only had one sexual partner in that time, so I didn't think they were right."
Four weeks later when it hadn't cleared up, he went back to the same doctor who still believed it to be a wart.
Gavin attended his medical centre again but was seen by a different GP, who thought it might be thrush, so Gavin was given cream.
He then referred himself to a sexual health clinic, who referred him to a dermatologist, who took a biopsy.
When the result came back, he was given the crushing news he had penile cancer.
Gavin was being sent for an operation where he had part of his penis removed.
