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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday January 14 2018, @04:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the $2500-per-letter dept.

The surgeon who admitted to burning his initials into the livers of two patients has been sentenced:

A surgeon who burned his initials on to the livers of two patients during transplant surgery has been given a 12-month community order and fined £10,000.

Simon Bramhall, 53, used an argon beam – used to stop livers bleeding during operations and to highlight an area to be worked on – to sign "SB" into his patient's livers. The marks left by argon do not impair the liver's function and disappear by themselves.

In December, the liver, spleen and pancreas surgeon admitted two counts of assault by beating. The offences relate to the incidents on 9 February and 21 August 2013. Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to the more serious charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

[...] Bramhall tendered his resignation the following summer amid an internal disciplinary investigation into his conduct. Speaking to the press at the time, he said marking his initials on to his patients' livers had been a mistake. He now works for the NHS in Herefordshire.

More like assault by beaming.

Also at NPR.

Previously: Surgeon Branded Initials Into Patients' Livers With Argon Beam


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @01:36PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @01:36PM (#622558)

    And if he spent an extra three hours in surgery tattooing an elaborate signature design because he was even more proud of his work, where do you draw the line? More time under increases costs and risks. Burning initials causes cell damage which the body then needs to spend resources repairing. The risk was low, but he wasn't being professional thus he was only fined and given more work.

    You want your dentist etching his initials into the back of all your teeth? That won't directly change their function, so harmless and perfectly ok? What about your hair dresser shaving in an ad for their business every time you went there? Hair grows back, no harm done. A car dealer changing your horn audio to "SERVICED AT XYZ". You shouldn't ever need to use your car horn anyway.

  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Monday January 15 2018, @02:21PM

    by Arik (4543) on Monday January 15 2018, @02:21PM (#622569) Journal
    "And if he spent an extra three hours in surgery tattooing an elaborate signature design because he was even more proud of his work, where do you draw the line? "

    Do you really have such a hard time drawing boundaries?

    If he billed an extra three hours there would be harm. He didn't do that. He spent a few seconds on his initials and no one even noticed until much later. Scale and context are important in everything in life.

    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?