Surgeon on Trial for Bizarre Practice

A British surgeon has admitted to signing his initials into two livers during transplant operations.

In a case which has no legal precedent in UK criminal law, 53-year-old doctor Simon Bramhall has pleaded guilty to two counts of assault.

Bramhall used an argon beam coagulator, which seals blood vessels using an electric beam, to brand his initials into the organs.

The marks were discovered when another surgeon conducting a follow-up surgery discovered the letters “S” and “B” etched into the man’s liver.

The investigation that followed this discovery revealed that Bramhall also carved his initials into another patient.

Bramhall resigned from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in 2014, after facing a disciplinary hearing.

Prosecutor Tony Badenoch said the branding was “an intentional application of unlawful force to a patient whilst anaesthetised”.

Public reactions to the case have been mixed.

A former patient of Bramhall’s asked: “Even if he did put his initials on a transplanted liver, is it really that bad?”

Meanwhile, a patients’ rights advocate said, “[t]his is a patient we are talking about, not an autograph book”.

Bramhall has been released on bail, and will be sentenced on 12 January 2018.