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| Here are some random excerpts from the article. The first one talks about Dr. Mark P. Solomon MD (
marksolomonmd.com/just-for-men/ )
FROM THE NEW YORKER: But he never imagined that, one day, nearly half his male practice would involve fixing the handiwork of other practitioners. Now, as much as he liked to joke that the last thing Beverly Hills needed was another plastic surgeon, he was doing such brisk business repairing Penuma complications that he’d relocated his practice from Philadelphia to an office down the street from Elist’s clinic. As the number of Penuma procedures increased, a cottage industry emerged to treat what Solomon describes as a new class of “penile cripples.”William Brant, a reconstructive urologist in Salt Lake City, who told me he sees about ten Penuma patients a month, noted “the deep despair of men who can’t unring the bell.” Gordon Muir, a urologist in London, said that he’s been taking out Penumas “all the way across the bloody pond.”But other reconstructive surgeons asked to speak confidentially, because they were afraid of being sued. Solomon had received a cease-and-desist letter from Elist’s lawyers arguing that the mere mention of Penuma on his Web site infringed on the implant’s trademark. (Solomon now notes his expertise in treating complications from “penis enlargement implants” instead.)
From his satchel, Solomon produced a couple of biohazard bags. One held two sheaths of silicone stitched together with a blue thread: an early edition of the Penuma that he’d removed from a patient.The other contained a modern Penuma, a single piece with a built-in crease.“Once this goes in, these men are never going to be the same again, because their penis is never the same again,” he said.
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At least twenty-three malpractice lawsuits have been filed against Elist in Los Angeles since 1993. (He has also been named as a defendant in product-liability lawsuits regarding inflatable penile prostheses brought by plaintiffs Dick Glass and Semen Brodsky.) The dockets indicate that some of the complaints were settled confidentially out of court, a few were dismissed, and in one of two trials a jury ruled in Elist’s favor.
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Elist understood this dynamic. In addition to encouraging Bryan, the spokespenis, to post positive comments on My New Size, Elist tracked his own mentions on PhalloBoards and Thunder’s Place, other online forums for male enhancement, demanding that their moderators stop harboring “defamatory”statements. He offered a PhalloBoards user, after an abscess had formed, five thousand dollars for deleting his posts about the procedure and releasing the clinic from liability, according to a settlement agreement I reviewed. (Elist said through a spokesperson that the patient didn’t follow post-op advice, and that, while he was not able to respond to some of the accounts in this story because men had requested anonymity, complications were rare.)
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A sign in Elist’s waiting room instructed patients not to speak to one another about medical issues (the better to protect their privacy, Elist said through the spokesperson). But Elist could only do so much to disrupt the communities of unhappy men coalescing online. As Mick pored over hundreds of posts, he was horrified to discover that he had been acting out a well-worn script.The others had also read the GQ article about the Penuma, learned that the implant was “reversible,” and, heartened by the F.D.A.’s clearance, put down their deposit.They, too, felt that their consultations were rushed and that they hadn’t had enough time to review the cascade of consent forms they’d signed alerting them to potential complications.
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Kevin said that he had undergone five surgeries with Elist, including two upgrades, a revision, and a removal, and his penis no longer functioned. Still, Kevin had always found the surgeon to be caring, if a little preoccupied.“He reminded me of Doctor Frankenstein—the intensity of him wanting this thing to come to life,” Kevin told me.It sounded strange, he acknowledged, but before each operation he’d been filled with excitement.“You just feel relieved that you’re fixing something,” he said. |