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A Polk County jury awarded $ 12.25 million to a Panora man who had had a debilitating surgery for prostate cancer on Friday before learning he had no cancer.

A pathologist from Iowa Clinic mixed samples of non-cancerous Rickie Huitt tissue with those of a man with prostate cancer. The error led to a false diagnosis and a surgeon removed the prostate from Huitt in April 2017. The operation damaged the neighboring nerves, leaving Huitt helpless and incontinent.

The Iowa Clinic, which is the largest group of medical specialists in the Des Moines area, admitted this error. But both parties disagreed on the amount of compensation deserved by Huitt.

Retired factory employee John Deere and his wife, Judy Huitt, filed a lawsuit, claiming $ 15 million in damages from the Iowa Clinic and to his pathologist, Joy Trueblood. A lawyer from the clinic and the doctor recommended Friday that the jurors grant $ 750,000.

"There has never been a dispute over the unnecessary transaction," defense lawyer Jack Hilmes told the jury on Friday morning. Hilmes asked the jurors to fix "reasonable" damages. "Clearly, we do not think $ 15 million is a reasonable compensation," he said.

The team of four Huitts lawyers was led by Nick Rowley, a nationally renowned lawyer who joined the case last week. Rowley told the jurors that $ 15 million was a fair assessment of the loss suffered by the couple due to the Iowa clinic's negligence.

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The headquarters of the Iowa Clinic in West Des Moines. (Photo: Tony Leys / The Register)

Rowley urged the jury to ignore the defense's claim that the Huitts did not deserve as much money, as 67-year-old Rickie Huitt is still able to do things like mowing his garden, attending the Fair the state and get her granddaughters back to school.

"For him, he lost his manhood," said Rowley in his final argument. "If he had lost his left leg, there would be no reason to talk about his nose, his ears or his left hand."

Earlier this week, Huitts' lawyers tried to increase their claim for damages from $ 15 to $ 46.6 million, but defense lawyers persuaded Judge Joseph Seidlin to block the plan.

The trial, which began Tuesday, included emotional testimony from the Huitts about how the side effects of surgery had damaged their lives.

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Judy Huitt was torn up several times when she explained to the jurors that her husband felt diminished as a husband because of his helplessness. She echoed her previous testimony that they had an active love life until her erroneous surgery. "He changed our world forever," she said Thursday.

The Huitts reported that his incontinence improved, but he still used two to three compresses absorbing urine per day. The experience can be humiliating, they said. Judy Huitt stated that she was cleaning their house and using the Febreze air freshener to mask the odor. But their granddaughters notice the scent, she says. "I blame him on the dog, because I do not want them to think that it's grandfather," she testified.

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Defense lawyers said the medical records showed that Rickie Huitt sometimes had "emergency" problems with urination in the past and that his other health problems could have led to erectile dysfunction in the past. 39; future.

Rowley questioned this claim by asking Rickie Huitt about her current urologic problems. "Have you ever had these problems before they cut you an organ?", He asked Huitt during his testimony on Tuesday.

"No," answered Huitt.

The details of the laboratory confusion were not discussed during the trial.

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The Huitts said in an interview Friday afternoon that they had never learned about the identity of the patient with prostate cancer, but that "there is no reason to have a prostate cancer. they had not been. The laboratory confusion apparently delayed the correct diagnosis of the second patient for at least four months, Judy Huitt said. The couple would like to talk to him if he wants to do it, said the Huitts. "We felt like we had lived for a few months. We just hope he's fine, "said Judy Huitt.

Rickie Huitt said the confusion was discovered because after the surgeon had removed his prostate, a second pathologist examined the gland and found no cancer. This would not have been the case if Huitt had chosen to undergo radiation therapy instead of surgery because the prostate would not have been removed. Huitt wonders how long the diagnosis and treatment of the other patient's cancer would have been delayed in this scenario.

The Huitts said that if the other patient wanted to talk to them, he should contact them through their Des Moines lawyer, Mark Hedberg.

Judy Huitt stated that they understood that Trueblood had made a mistake, but that the doctor and the clinic should take responsibility for it and ensure that it does not happen again. "They never told us that they were sorry, never," Judy Huitt said.

She said that she and her husband were relieved that the trial was over. It was embarrassing and stressful to testify on such personal issues, she said.

"It was horrible, like standing in front of everyone – it was raw," she said. Their lawyers warned the defendants that the defendants could appeal and that it might take a year or more to get a check. Some of this money will be used to pay the legal fees, but the Huitts feel relieved and justified, said Judy Huitt.

The bulk of the trial took place in a tiny courtroom of the Polk County Courthouse, where plaintiffs, representatives from both sides, and Trueblood, the pathologist who committed the The mistake was gathered before a single bench. The Friday morning pleadings were moved to a larger audience room. More than 40 people came, including several lawyers who were not involved in the unusual case but wanted to know how it was done.

When asked to comment after the verdict, Iowa Clinic's spokesperson, Amy Hilmes, responded by email: "We are disappointed with the jury's decision, but we respect the process very much. judicial. We will evaluate our legal options. "

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