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Viagra for life
BY PAUL HENRY Observer staff reporter henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, February 08, 2010
FURNITURE retailer Courts Jamaica Limited has agreed to cover the future cost of Viagra for a 26-year-old man, to whom it was recently ordered by the High Court to make a hefty multimillion-dollar payment in damages.
Courts is to foot Viagra cost for Kenroy Biggs to the tune of $1.53 million, a figure that has been affirmed by Justice Bryan Sykes in a ruling late last month.
Overall, Courts is to shell out $45.85 million in damages to Biggs plus legal costs.
Biggs of Cane River, St Andrew, suffers from permanent erectile dysfunction and his whole person has been impaired by "55 per cent" as a result of a Courts truck crashing into him seven years ago. Biggs also lost part of his left leg by way of amputation.
Biggs was hit by the truck and pinned to a wall while walking in his Cane River community on the night of March 23, 2003. He was 19-years-old at the time.
This marked the beginning of several years of medical procedures, which included urethra surgeries in the United States, along with persistent back and other pains.
Biggs later filed suit against Courts to recover damages. The company later agreed to some of the damages sought by Biggs, including his Viagra expenses.
During the assessment of damages hearing before Sykes in December last year, medical evidence was given that Biggs suffered "significant erectile dysfunction" for which Viagra was prescribed.
Another medical report states that Biggs suffers from depression as a result of the trauma of the accident and the constant worry that he may not be able to engage in sexual relations or father a child.
According to the medical report, Biggs is functioning at "65 per cent of his full overall psychological capacity".
Sykes, in making the award, lamented Biggs' plight.
"In light of what has been said, I feel that a sum of $18 million is appropriate compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenities. This head of damages covers physical as well as psychological suffering," Sykes wrote.
Added Sykes: "Mr Biggs has permanent urological damage. There is the permanent problem of stricture of his urethra, which can only be relieved by the painful insertion of catheters. Mr Biggs has permanent erectile dysfunction. He has lost a leg."
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