Disfigured as prisoner, man accepts $300,000

A Mason County man who lost his penis and a testicle after he contracted a flesh-eating bacteria while in prison has won a $300,000 settlement from the state Department of Corrections.

Charlie Manning, 61, said Monday that he agreed to the settlement with the Department of Corrections (DOC) last month because he wanted the ordeal to be over. After paying his bills and attorney's fees, Manning said, he will be left with about $115,000 and plans to hunker down in his Lake Cushman motor home and live out the rest of his life.

"It's been a nightmare," Manning said. "I figured I should settle for what I could get because I just want it behind me." "It's unreal. It's like something from Mars," said Manning, who expects to receive payment from the settlement this week. "I wish it would have never happened to me."

In a statement Monday, the DOC said it "agreed to settle this case to save taxpayers the expense of continued litigation." The prison physician who had been sued by Manning is no longer with DOC.

"While the end result was unfortunate and Mr. Manning's original diagnosis turned out to be inaccurate, this was the result of a misdiagnosis, not the result of poor medical care," the DOC's statement read. "Not all medical judgments -- whether performed in a prison or at a doctor's office -- are infallible."

Manning was sentenced to 13 months in prison for threatening a neighbor and stealing the man's pistol during a drunken argument in 2004 in Mason County. He also had at least two drunken-driving convictions and a third felony on his record.

In 2004, medical staff at Stafford Creek Correctional Center in Aberdeen diagnosed Manning as having an allergic reaction to cold medicine. He was later diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis -- flesh-eating bacteria -- caused by an internal abscess.

By the time Manning was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the bacteria had spread to his pelvic region. Surgeons at Harborview performed a lifesaving surgery and removed several pounds of flesh, including his penis and a testicle, Manning's attorney said.

Surgeons eventually made a replacement penis with skin from his thigh.

The case was settled in Thurston County Superior Court on Oct 17.

Manning filed suit in 2007 against DOC and Dr. Muhammad Khurshid, who had been the head physician at Stafford Creek, claiming that Khurshid's delay in diagnosis let the infection spread, causing permanent disfigurement.

Khurshid left the DOC shortly after Manning's suit was filed, said Daniel DeLue, Manning's attorney. According to the state Department of Health, Khurshid is no longer licensed to practice medicine in Washington state. He is licensed to practice in Illinois.

DeLue said he's disappointed in the amount of the settlement but understands Manning's desire to put the case behind him. DeLue said he hopes the DOC has learned a lesson from Manning's case. "The fact that Dr. Khurshid isn't there anymore is a positive sign," DeLue said.

Information from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com