Surgeon admits inscribing his initials on his patients' livers during transplant procedures
There are doctors who do transplant operations and leave a legacy and there are doctors who do transplant operations and leave a mark. And one of the doctors took the latter literally. A British surgeon has been found guilty of marking his initials onto livers that he would transplant into his patients.
As per reports, two of his patients have been
identified who had undergone a liver transplant under him and the doctor had
made use of a laser beam to carve out his initials on the transplanted organ -
a liver.
The doctor has been identified as Simon Bramhall, who
is accused of burning his initials "SB" onto the livers of two of his patients.
Of the two patients while one is a man, the other is a woman. The doctor has
admitted to two counts of assault but to the charge of causing bodily harm, he
has pleaded 'not guilty'.
How did the cases come to light? As per reports, the
female patient faced some complications and the initials were discovered in a
follow-up operation.
The doctor is reported to have been a consultant
surgeon at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth hospital and reports have suggested
that the doctor was asked to resign after the hospital initiated disciplinary
proceedings against him in 2014.
What has also come to light is the fact that in
January 2017, the General Medical Council had also issued a warning to him for
failing to meet the requisite standards. In the present case, though the doctor
has been granted an unconditional bail, the sentencing has been scheduled for
12th January.
While his actions are undoubtedly unethical and
criminal, but what is not clear is what motivated him to do so.