Jury sides with C. Ind. doctor over circumcision

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A jury has decided that a central Indiana doctor shouldn’t have to pay damages for circumcising an infant whose mother didn’t want the procedure done.

The Delaware County jury on Thursday rejected a request for $400,000 in damages from Dr. Michael Burt for the 2003 circumcision at Muncie’s Ball Memorial Hospital.

The Star Press reports that Burt’s attorneys argued that the doctor made an honest mistake and that no evidence was presented to show that the circumcision would prevent the now-7-year-old boy from having a happy and productive life.

The boy’s mother said in her lawsuit that the doctor knew about her opposition to circumcision and that her family believed genital integrity is a basic human right.

The family earlier reached an out-of-court settlement with the hospital.