Unthinkable: A surgeon engraved his initials on the liver of two patients

A surgeon who engraved his initials on the liver of two patients has been removed from the national register of doctors and will no longer be able to practice his profession.

Simon Bramhall admitted to using an argon laser to engrave his initials on the two patients's organs in 2013 while working at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

This unprecedented initiative of his colleague was noticed by another surgeon who located the initial "SB" four centimeters long on the liver, when - a week after the transplant operation by Bramhol - he reopened the patient due to the insufficiency of the transplant.

The Judicial Service of Doctors (MPTS) characterized the act which "undermined public confidence in the medical profession" as "an act resulting from professional arrogance".

In December 2017, Bramhall from Tarrington, Herfordshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of bodily harm in a Birmingham court and was fined λι 10.000 the following year.

In December 2020, he was made available for "at least five months", however, according to a report from the last court, yesterday, Monday, a review of the court decision on June 4 found that "the ability to practice the profession was no longer reduced due to of his criminal convictions "and so his availability order came.

The British Medical Association appealed against the suspension decision and a High Court judge overturned the sentence, referring the case to the MPTS (Judicial Medical Service) for review.

Yesterday, Monday, this body ruled that Bramholh's actions "violated" the trust between a patient and a doctor, and deleted him.

"Obvious violation"

Although the court acknowledged that "no permanent bodily harm was inflicted on either patient", Bramholh's actions "caused significant emotional harm to one of them".

His decision also states that Brahmol was "previously of a good character", but the deletion from the medical association's registers was "the sanction that belonged to him" as "the general framework for providing life-saving care" does not mitigate the "blatant violation by Mr. Brahmol of patients' dignity and autonomy "

Immediately after the meeting of the doctors' court, an immediate availability order came into force to cover the 28-day appeal period.