by Marissa Ellis
Even when you’ve thunk you’ve heard it all, you realize: you haven’t. A 52-year-old California man is suing BMW North America claiming that a four hour-ride on a BMW motorcyle caused him to develop a twenty-month erection. Citing the motorcyle’s custom-installed ridget seat, Henry Wolf said he developed the condition called priapism which is defined by WebMD as a “usually painful, erection that lasts for more than four hours and occurs without sexual stimulation. The condition develops when blood in the penis becomes trapped and unable to drain. If the condition is not treated immediately, it can lead to scarring and permanent erectile dysfunction.”
Reuters interviewed a doctor who questions the assertions of the man in question.
A four-hour ride on the motorcycle seat, designed and manufactured by Corbin-Pacific Inc., caused Wolf’s condition, his lawsuit asserts. But medical experts aren’t so certain. One urologist told Detroit’s WWJ radio there’s no data to support Henry Wolf’s motorcycle-seat erection claim. A ridge-like seat could, however, compress the neurovascular supply to a person’s genitals and cause “prolonged numbness,” the doctor said.
Wolf took the ride in 2010 and has only recently filed suit, saying that he “is now unable to engage in sexual activity, which is causing him substantial emotional and mental anguish.” It seems that you can sue over anything in this country. If Wolf’s assertion is [ahem] true, we wish him all the best. If not, we can thank him now for getting the creative juices flowing of the schemers out there looking for a big payday from a frivolous lawsuit.
