OFF BEAT: 28-year-old man sues hospital for circumcising him at birth

A South Dakota prison inmate is suing the hospital where he was circumcised as a newborn 28 years ago, alleging an unnamed doctor misled his mother about the procedure’s medical necessity.

In a federal lawsuit , Dean Cochrun is seeking $1,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and wants his foreskin reattached so he can feel “whole again,” according to several news reports.

He is imprisoned on a kidnapping conviction and claims he only recently became aware that he had undergone the procedure that has robbed him of a normal sex life.

In his lawsuit against Fargo, N.D.-based Sanford Health Hospital, formerly known as Sioux Valley Hospital, Mr. Cochrun also alleges that the procedure was unethical as well as unnecessary and amounted to child abuse and medical malpractice.

Reports say he is not represented by an attorney and hospital representatives have said they will not offer a settlement.