In 2013, a British surgeon engraved his initials on the organs of some of his patients. Eight years later, he was removed from UK medical records.
- A 57-year-old surgeon has been struck off UK medical records for carving his initials into patients’ livers.
- This sanction was pronounced eight years after the events.
It took eight years for Simon Bramhall, a British surgeon, to be removed from UK medical records. This transplant specialist was found guilty for facts dating from 2013. At the time, he engraved his initials “SB” on the livers of two patients during operations carried out at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, depending on the website The Guardian.
An engraving made with an argon beam
The defendant justified his actions by assuring that they allowed him to evacuate the pressure during difficult operations, here the transplantation of a liver in the body of a patient. The object that enabled him to engrave his initials is an argon beam. Usually, this tool is used by surgeons to scar or devitalize tiny areas of organs.
The deception was discovered by another surgeon. In 2013, this health professional took care of one of the patient victims of Simon Bramhall. During liver examinations, he discovers the initials of his colleague. It is difficult to miss because this signature measures four centimeters. Outraged, he decides to notify the competent medical authorities.
The surgeon permanently suspended in 2021
In 2014, Simon Bramhall was suspended from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. To avoid dismissal, he resigned from this health establishment but quickly found work elsewhere. It was not until 2020 that he was finally banned from practicing. He still manages to be reinstated in a hospital but is permanently suspended in 2021. In its decision, the Tribunal concluded that a suspension order would be “insufficient to protect the broader public interest” and declared that the removal from the medical register was a “appropriate and proportionate sanction”.
“The physical assault of two vulnerable patients while unconscious in a clinical setting, one of whom suffered significant and lasting emotional harm, seriously undermines patient and public confidence in physicians. and inevitably discredits the whole of this profession”found the Court.
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