Transplant Surgeon Admits Signing His Initials on Patients' Livers

A top British surgeon has pleaded guilty to marking his initials onto livers of two patients during transplant operations. Simon Bramhall appeared in a Birmingham court on Wednesday where he admitted two counts of assault by beating and not guilty to the more serious charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Bramhall used an argon beam, an instrument usually used to stop bleeding during operations, to sign his initials on his patient's livers. Marks left by argon beams during surgery are not considered to hinder the function of organs in any way and usually disappear over time.

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The well-known liver, spleen and pancreas surgeon was first suspended from his role as a consultant surgeon at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital in 2013 after a fellow surgeon saw the initials on a follow-up surgery of a prior patient of Bramhall’s. The hospital conducted an internal investigation the following summer, Bramhall handed in his notice of resignation before the investigators could finish their task. He made a statement to the press at the time of his resignation saying: “I had a disciplinary meeting on 15 May. I was not dismissed,” he said. “I made the decision on 16 May I would hand in my notice. It is a bit raw and I have to move on.” He went on to say the marking of his initials had been a mistake.