A man who entered surgery thinking one testicle was going to be removed only to find afterward that the wrong one was missing has been awarded $870,000, including $250,000 in punitive damages, by a Huntingdon County jury.

According to a search of The Legal's archives and Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts data, this was the first plaintiffs medical malpractice verdict in Huntingdon County in at least two decades. The jury found that Dr. Valley Spencer Long was negligent in accidentally removing Steven Hanes' left testicle instead of the right, which had been causing him severe pain. J.C. Blair Hospital was also a defendant.

Hanes' award broke down into a $500,000 lump sum for future pain and suffering, $120,000 for past pain and suffering, and $250,000 in punitives against Long.