The story grabbed headlines worldwide and has now led to a lawsuit against the Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
A California tourist who stayed in the Venetian’s Palazzo Tower over the 2023 Christmas holiday said he was stung by a scorpion — while he was sleeping — and woke up to a searing pain in his groin area.
8 News Now first reported on this incident in March 2024, and since then, Farchi, 62, said the poisonous sting to his testicles has caused him to suffer PTSD and emotional trauma for which he continues to seek treatment. The incident has had ramifications on Farchi’s sex life, the lawsuit stated.
“I can also indicate, as you saw in the complaint, we’re also making a claim for loss of consortium for Mr. Farchi’s wife,” said Brian Virag of “My Bed Bug Lawyer,” one of Farchi’s California attorneys.
“Consortium” means that Farchi’s wife is making legal claims that their sex life hasn’t been the same since the sting.
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Farchi shared with 8 News Now photos of the scorpion hanging on his underwear.
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Farchi shared a medical incident report with 8 News Now that he filed at the Palazzo on December 26. It showed his suite number and what he wrote to hotel staff that night, “bitten by scorpion on my groin/testicles.”
Farchi said the hotel staff didn’t take him seriously.
“(They were) just holding their groin area and laughing about it,” he said. “It was really embarrassing.”
Farchi went to Summerlin Hospital and was diagnosed with “Poisoning: Scorpion Sting,” according to the lawsuit.
Farchi was also treated at UCLA Medical Center, where doctors confirmed he was suffering from physical injuries, including erectile dysfunction, as a result of the scorpion sting, the lawsuit stated.
You don't even have to be in a desert state to encounter scorpions, which I learned after seeing a scorpion in Florida. Apparently my grandparents' old house used to get them pretty regularly.