The British surgeon accused of having his initials engraved on the liver of two patients has been sentenced to community service and a fine.
What is the difference between a surgeon and God? God does not take himself for a surgeon … This joke abouthybris Scalpel artists have rarely been more deserved than for Simon Bramhall, 53 years old. This renowned English surgeon had hit the headlines recently, for having tattooed his initials (“SB”) on the liver of two sleeping patients.
The judgment has just been rendered by the British courts: the visceral tagger has just been sentenced to one year of community service and a fine of 10,000 pounds (11,230 euros). For lack of a better qualification, he responded to a complaint for “assault and battery” (assault by beating) on two patients. In February 2017, he also received a simple reprimand from the British Order of Physicians.
Professional arrogance
“By doing this, you abused your power and betrayed the trust that these patients had placed in you”, denounced the judge, cited by The Guardian. Accepting the remorse of the surgeon, and his explanations on the lack of premeditation and the stress of the operations, he did not fail to castigate his “professional arrogance”.
In 2013, the Birmingham visceral surgeon operated on a patient for a liver transplant. At the end of the operation, long and complex, he had indulged in tattooing his initials with an argon laser, normally used for the purpose of hemostasis, on the newly transplanted organ. Painless and temporary marks, without physical consequences, but contrary to all ethics.
Psychological sequel
No doubt this strange practice would never have been discovered if, a week after this intervention, the patient had not had to be operated again for graft rejection – unrelated to the “tattoo”. Confused, the surgeon had to resign in 2014. As for the patient concerned, she would still suffer from psychological sequelae, evoking a “Overwhelming feeling of having been degraded”.
Dr Simon Bramhall is still practicing today, not far from Birmingham. With a notoriety which he would do without, and which will undoubtedly last a little longer than his ephemeral graffiti.
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