With interest dating to 1996, the award is about $1 million for Charles Lennon, who filed suit over a faulty penile implant.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 29, 2006

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Charles Lennon, the North Providence man who sued over a penile implant that won't stay in the down position, has decided to accept a $400,000 judgment, his lawyers said yesterday.

Last week, the Rhode Island Supreme Court gave Lennon the option of accepting the $400,000 or having another trial on damages. Lennon, 68, a retired handyman, decided to take the money, which, with interest, will total about $1 million, his lawyers said.

"It's time to be done with this," lawyer Jules J. D'Alessandro said. "He's happy to be done with it."

Lawyer Albert R. Romano said Lennon did not want to face the "agony" of another trial. Also, the company that made the implant, Dacomed Corporation, is bankrupt, and it had a limited insurance policy, he said.

"He has a weight lifted off his shoulders," Romano said. "For 10 years the company was saying, 'There's nothing wrong with the device, Charlie, there's something wrong with you.' He feels vindicated."

Lennon was implanted with a Dacomed Dura-II penile prosthesis in 1996, two years before the advent of Viagra. The implant, a series of plastic segments joined by a steel cable connected to springs at either end, would not remain in the down position and Lennon experienced pain during intercourse, according to court records.

Lennon sued, and a jury awarded him $750,000 in 2004. But a judge later lowered that to a $400,000 judgment. After appeals by both sides, the Supreme Court on Friday gave Lennon 20 days to decide whether to take the $400,000 or have a new trial on damages.

On Tuesday, Lennon's lawyers filed a document in Superior Court accepting the $400,000, which will be paid by Dacomed's insurance company, National Union Fire Insurance. In addition, Lennon will receive interest of 12 percent a year, dating back to the 1996 implant surgery, his lawyers said.

D'Alessandro said Lennon has been noticeably happier because the case is over. Also, he said, "With the stories out there, he doesn't have to conceal this anymore. And he's finding that he's not alone. There's a lot more sympathetic people out there than he thought there were."

D'Alessandro said his office has been receiving calls from people across the country who've had problems with implants or other "urological issues."

Also, D'Alessandro noted the story has been picked up by newspapers and Web sites around the world, ranging from the China Daily to the Jamaica Observer to the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Australia. Lennon has been wearing a fanny pack in front for concealment, and a reporter for a Japanese weekly called The Journal yesterday asking, among things, for the definition of a fanny pack.

Lawyers spent two days picking the jury that heard Lennon's case. D'Alessandro said jury research indicated women ages 40 to 60 would be more receptive to the case's emotional aspects and could appreciate and evaluate the loss of sexuality later in life. Men, on the other hand, might have a "defensive bias" because they'd identify too closely with Lennon and spend time second-guessing his decisions, he said. Also, men might tune out videos and other evidence because they didn't want to see it, he said. Lennon ended up with a jury of seven women and one man.

Brooks R. Magratten, a lawyer representing Dacomed and its insurance company, declined to comment yesterday.

efitzpat@projo.com / (401) 277-7368