Boy mutilated by disgraced doctor awarded $100 million by Palm Beach County jury
By Steve King
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PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida (WPBF) — A Palm Beach County family has won a lawsuit against a disgraced doctor who permanently wounded their infant son during a circumcision.
The lawsuit says former doctor, Berto Lopez, lost his medical license on Feb. 5, 2021, and 10 days later performed a circumcision on a 10-day-old newborn, botching the procedure.
On Tuesday, a Palm Beach County civil court ruled in favor of the boy, who is now three years old. The boy’s parents say he is traumatized.
Lopez not only botched the boy’s circumcision at his West Palm Beach office but he got rid of the tissue, making it impossible to ever repair what Lopez did. The lawsuit also states Lopez lied to the parents about what happened after the parents were forced to hear their newborn scream for about an hour — in a procedure that was only supposed to take a few minutes.
“It’s never going to heal and no matter what you do, even if you had the money to try to look into something, there’s no restorative surgery that can fix it. He’s not old enough now to realize he’s different, but in just a couple of years, he will be,” said Michael Lubben, the boy’s father.
On Tuesday, Lopez and his former medical office were forced to pay $100 million to the family. All that money is going into a trust which will be accessible to the little boy when he becomes an adult, but the money can also be used throughout his childhood for medical bills and emotional support.
WPBF 25 News asked the West Palm Beach Police Department why a criminal investigation was not pursued, and according to the police report taken on April 13, 2021 it says, “After making contact with the department of health it was determined that the doctor did have an active license at the time of the procedure.”
WPBF 25 News’ emails and calls to the Florida Department of Health and Florida Board of Medicine have gone unanswered. WPBF 25 News reached out to Lopez to ask if he has a comment or could discuss the lawsuit, and responded, “No.”
However, the lawsuit states his license was revoked Feb. 5, 2021, ten days before the boy’s mutilation.
“He was still practicing medicine and still allowed to butcher this child on Feb. 15. It doesn’t make any sense. The board of medicine has to have ways to notify the public,” said Aimee Ferrer, an attorney with Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen.
State records show Lopez’ medical license was revoked because he was found responsible for a wrongful death when a pregnant woman died in his care while giving birth at Good Samaritan Medical Center in 2017. There was also an incident in 2014 that left a newborn with permanent injuries.
“I’ve never seen somebody this bad, this much of a non-caring,” said Gary Cohen, attorney with Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen. “I don’t know what is in his mind if anything, but I’ve never seen anything like the amputation that was caused during a simple circumcision. It’s inconceivable.”
Lopez did not show up in court this week for the verdict.
“He doesn’t have the guts to even face us. I don’t have any words for him,” said Lubben.
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