He alleged that when he purchased the supplement, the store clerk suggested the product as "natural and safe."
Carter's doctor, who is continuing follow-up treatment, "directly linked" the penis injury to the supplement, Moore said.
But urologists said penile fractures usually are caused by traumatic sexual intercourse.
And they are fairly common, according to Dr. Chad Ritenour, associate professor of urology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. He sees a case -- called "eggplant penis" -- at least once a month.
"I never heard of anyone being put at a higher risk for fracture because of a prescription or an herbal drug," said Carney. "With a fracture, you typically get swelling and the penis looks like an eggplant -- purple and swollen. But blood coming out on the walls, that sounds really dramatic.
"The typical story is that someone is having intercourse and, in the course of an erection, they miss an opening and hit a pelvic bone in their partner," he said. "In the classic case, you hear a 'pop' and feel something immediately."
Carter said he was taken to a local emergency room, where the doctor diagnosed him with "gross hematuria" -- blood in his urine -- as well as penile fracture and a urethral injury, according to the lawsuit.
[...]
Alleging that supplements caused penile fracture is "the most absurd thing I have heard of in my life," according to Dr. Jeff Carney, chief of urology at Grady Memorial Hospital and a trauma specialist.
Some of Carter's symptoms as described in the court papers ring true -- pain and swelling, according to Carney, but other details are "overly dramatic," he said.
Degloving would never have been done in an emergency room, but by a skilled surgeon, he said. If the urinary channel is also affected by the fracture, the injury can be bloody, but "blood squirting out helter skelter" is not possible, "I can guarantee you," he said.
"When a man breaks his penis it can be very scary," said Carney. "I believe he took this story and spiced it up."
Carney said that he has heard "everything under the sun" when men arrive in the emergency room with a fractured penis. "The most common one told is they walked into an ironing board."
"I suppose it's possible you could get up in the middle of the night with a hard erection and a walk into a wall and break your penis," he said.
Urologist Ritenour agreed.
"You never know if you are getting the real story," he said. "People are embarrassed. The real point of this story is that this is a medical emergency and you really need to come and be seen so it can be handled surgically and fixed."