In the UK, the license of a surgeon who burned initials on the liver of patients was revoked

An artist and a sculptor can sign their masterpieces, and the authorship of writers and poets in general is almost always obvious. But what should surgeons do who save lives every day and cannot sign their work? The age-old problem was solved by 57-year-old surgeon Simon Bramhall. The doctor simply burned his initials to two patients right on the transplanted liver.

Dr. Bramhall distinguished himself back in 2013, when he worked at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. To autograph the organs transplanted to patients, the surgeon used high technology. He burned out the first letters of his name with an argon laser used in surgery.

The surgeon's "pranks" were discovered shortly after the transplant. In one of the patients, the donor organ did not take root and had to be operated on again. During it, another transplant specialist saw the 4-centimeter letters "S" and "B" on the long-suffering liver. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, which reviewed the incident, found it a violation of medical ethics. According to experts, Dr. Bramhall was driven by "professional vanity" bordering on criminal negligence.

But the trial, which lasted several years, made completely different conclusions. Bramhall's actions were equated to beatings with minor injury to health. In 2017, the doctor admitted charges on two counts and was sentenced to a fine of 10 thousand pounds (1 million rubles). But it didn't end there.

The surgeon's act continued to be discussed in high instances and in 2020 Bramhall was tried again. This time everything turned out worse for the doctor - he was deprived of his license. At first, he was banned from performing operations for 5 months, and then completely suspended from professional activity.

As for the guilty doctor himself, he repents and believes that he did something stupid. Simon Bramhall explains his actions not by vanity or mischief, but by a desire to relieve emotional fatigue after a complex hours-long operation. And what can you do — the work of a transplantologist is not easy.