A former state prison inmate has been awarded $932,900 in damages after he was rendered infertile by substandard medical care while incarcerated at the Halawa High Security Correctional Center.

Circuit Judge Victoria Marks made the decision yesterday in a lawsuit against the state by Gregory Slingluffer, who was imprisoned at Halawa in 2003-04 for a drug offense.

In September 2003, Slingluffer developed an infected scrotum that was treated with the wrong antibiotics and incorrect dosages, according to testimony in a four-day trial this month.

And delays in his treatment caused his scrotum to swell first to the size of a "grapefruit" and then to a "small watermelon," his lawyer, Richard Turbin, said.

Slingluffer's scrotal sac was surgically removed and replaced with grafted skin from his thigh.

Slingluffer, 41, a furniture store employee, faces more reconstructive surgery over the next 18 months.

He declined comment after the court session.

Turbin called Marks' decision "a modest award" for Slingluffer.

"The state could have saved a lot of money if it had only followed its own (medical) protocols," Turbin said.

Deputy attorney general Kendall Moser declined comment as he was leaving court, saying, "The case is still pending."

Turbin said he did not know if the state intends to appeal Marks' decision.