Victims of a rogue breast cancer surgeon have called for a change in the law after it was reported that he may be linked to up to 650 deaths.
Ian Paterson is serving 20 years in prison for 17 counts of wounding with intent after subjecting more than 1,000 patients to unnecessary operations over 14 years.
Paterson, once hailed a renowned surgeon, worked for the NHS and two private hospitals in Birmingham where he conducted unauthorised operations.
Now medical professionals are looking through the records of women mutilated by Paterson over a period of more than two decades.
Survivor Debbie Douglas, 64, is leading the call for a change in the law to ensure that private hospitals are more regulated and accountable to higher safety standards.
Last month, the Coroner’s Office opened a further seven inquests, bringing the total number of deaths under public judicial inquiry to 27. However, sources close to the case, including families of Paterson patients, say they have been informed of 650 deaths under examination, The Sunday Times reported.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Ms Douglas said she should have had a lumpectomy after she spotted a lump less than 2cm wide on her breast. But instead Paterson removed her breast, rerouted her stomach, removed her lymph nodes and gave her six months of unnecessary chemotherapy.
Ms Douglas, from Birmingham, said: “If you look at the harm done by one consultant, Paterson is bigger than Harold Shipman. Without more regulations being implemented, how many more Patersons are out there? They have free rein at the moment.
“Six friends of mine are dead and should still be here, but they’re not because he operated on them. It is a perfect storm for it to happen again with so many people going private amid long NHS waiting times, a lack of junior doctors, and strikes.”
A report by the Heart of England NHS Trust, compiled by the breast surgeon Martin Lee in 2017, found that 675 out of 1,206 of Paterson’s mastectomy patients had died.
Many including Ms Douglas received his unapproved cleavage-sparing mastectomy that left behind up to 50 per cent of the breast tissue, risking a return of cancer.
“The inquiry shows he told women: ‘You have a nice cleavage now, you will look good in a bikini,’” she said. He forced his view of what women should look like as breast cancer patients rather than making sure they were medically safe.”
One source claims Spire Healthcare, the hospital group where Paterson treated his private patients, has put a further £30 million into the fund set up to compensate patients.
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April 17, 2023 at 02:35AM
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Rogue breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson 'linked to 650 deaths' - The Telegraph
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