A woman subjected to unwarranted surgery by a ‘butcher surgeon’ has shared her experience of how she was persuaded to proceed with the procedure.
Ian Paterson was sentenced to prison in 2017 in the UK after being found guilty of wounding patients by performing unnecessary or flawed operations.
He was handed a 20-year prison term but is expected to be released on license next year.
From 1993 to 2011, Paterson treated numerous women within both the NHS and private hospital settings.
During this period, the surgeon conducted unauthorized breast surgeries, leading to approximately 750 patients receiving compensation for his actions.
Among Paterson’s victims was Deborah Douglas, who sought his care privately after discovering a lump in her breast.
During an appearance on the UK daytime show, This Morning, Deborah recounted how she met Paterson and the manner in which he persuaded her that surgery was the appropriate course of action.
She detailed: “I met him because I’d found a lump in my breast and I saw my GP. I had healthcare cover with work.
“I saw Patterson in a private hospital. The first time I walked into that hospital, from the receptionist to the cleaner, everyone said, ‘You’re so lucky to have Ian Patterson. He’s the best consultant in the country, he’s one of the best breast surgeons, you’ve got the best team’.
“So I felt really confident when I walked in to see him.”
Deborah’s lump was less than 2cm, and she described how Paterson took her into a separate room and ‘jabbed’ a needle into her breast without any guidance or anesthetic.
“He jabbed it into my breast,” Deborah stated.
“I could see the nurse looking perturbed… when you look back on all that, at the time I just thought he was doing his job.”
Deborah returned a few days later and was informed that although she was curable, she would require a mastectomy with reconstructive surgery.
“That entailed removing my left breast. He talked about this immediate reconstructive surgery and that meant they would take part of my stomach muscle, re-route it through my chest wall,” Deborah explained.
“He removed all of my lymph nodes. So I was cut from hip to hip. I had an elliptical scar around my breast, a long scar under my arm, left armpit, where he removed all my lymph nodes.”
Years later, Deborah discovered her surgery, along with the seven rounds of chemotherapy, had been entirely unnecessary.
In reality, all Deborah required was a lumpectomy to remove the lump.
Deborah has documented her ordeal in a book titled The Cost of Trust, which is set to be released on February 12.