SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
A surgeon has admitted to branding the livers of two patients using a beam of ionized argon gas:
Bramhall previously worked at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth hospital, where he gained fame for a dramatic liver transplant in 2010. Bramhall transplanted a liver following the fiery crash-landing of the plane that was transporting the donor liver to Birmingham. Though the pilots were injured, the liver was intact and salvaged from the burning wreckage. The transplant spared the life of Dr. Bramhall's desperately ill patient.
But in 2013, colleagues discovered that he had been initialing his patients' organs. Doctors first spotted the letters "SB" on the liver of one of Bramhall's transplant patients during a follow-up surgery. They later learned of initials on another patient. Bramhall was suspended in 2013 and resigned in 2014 amid an internal investigation into the etchings. Earlier this year, the General Medical Council issued Bramhall a formal warning, saying at the time that Bramhall's case "risks bringing the profession into disrepute, and it must not be repeated."
Bramhall etched his initials using an argon beam—a jet of ionized argon gas—which surgeons use to control bleeding during procedures. Doctors who are part of the investigation don't think the marks are harmful and expect them to clear up on their own.
Also at BBC and The Guardian.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @01:27AM (5 children)
I've had a chance to work with a few surgeons on non-medical issues (like re-zoning in our neighborhood). With few exceptions, they are insufferable people to deal with, completely full of themselves and unwilling to believe that anyone else might have something useful to say or contribute.
As I got older, I realized that maybe this was part of the job description. After all, to cut into a living person (and not just injure them) must take tremendous self-confidence. Would you put yourself in the care of a surgeon that wasn't completely confident in their ability?
The problems comes with lack of socialization, the surgeons (mostly?) were never trained to leave that huge ego at the door of the operating room when they exit out into general society.
I see this branding episode as just another symptom of a highly inflated sense of self-worth.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday December 14 2017, @01:58AM (3 children)
Maybe the robotic [ieee.org] surgeon [wikipedia.org] operators will have smaller egos.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:09AM
I'm sure those small egos can be fixed.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Thursday December 14 2017, @12:36PM
HA, YOU WISH.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:07PM
Sure, they would have to pay for the Large Ego package otherwise.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:30AM
Would you put yourself in the care of a surgeon that wasn't completely aware of their limits?