A UK doctor's medical license has been revoked for branding livers with his initials during transplant
After years of intensive study and practice, a medical professional has only one big nightmare - getting their hard-earned medical license cancelled. This nightmare turned into reality for a doctor in the United Kingdom. Doctor Simon Bramhall's name has been removed from the medical register. Why? He conducted two unusual organ transplants.
WHAT HAPPENED:
A couple of unexpected liver transplant incidents took place in February and August 2013. 57-year-old Simon Bramhall used an argon beam to write his initials “SB” on the livers that he transplanted. Argon beam is an instrument used to stop livers from bleeding during surgery. At the end of the two surgeries, he used the surgical device to write his initials on the transplanted livers.
When one of the transplanted livers failed within a week, another doctor found the 1.6 inch long initials on the liver and reported it to the authorities.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Soon after this, he was suspended from his post as a Consultant Surgeon in 2014 from Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
In January 2018, UK’s Medical Practice Tribunal Service (MPTS) imposed a fine of 10,000 pounds (Rs 10,07,790.18) and a penalty of a 12-month community order with unpaid work after Bramhall admitted to the offense.
During a review of his case in December 2020, Bramhall admitted that his actions were “stupid and entirely wrong.” At the time, he was suspended from practicing for at least five months.
On Monday, the MPTS stated that though the patient did not suffer any physical harm, it had caused significant emotional harm. MPTS further declared that Bramhall could no longer practice, as he had been removed from the country’s medical register for branding patients’ livers.
Organ transplantation is a life-saving process. A small loophole can affect the process and lead to irreversible outcomes. Something like this, which has been done on purpose, affects the donors as well as the recipient's life too. Though marking initials on paper is fine, doing the same on a liver can be life-threatening (and might even cost you your degree).