A surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the UK branded his initials SB on the patient's liver after performing liver surgery a few years ago.
The surgeon appeared in court on Wednesday and admitted to "signing" the patient's liver, but refused to admit assaulting the patient, causing "actual physical harm."
Simon Bramhall, 53, is a pancreatic surgeon in Herefordshire, England.
In 2013, while performing follow-up surgery on a patient, Bramhall's colleagues accidentally discovered two letters imprinted with an argon spray gun on the patient's liver - —SB.
The doctor who had previously operated on this patient was Bramhall, whose initials were SB.
Liver surgeons use an argon gas gun to stop bleeding in the liver, but it can also be used to burn the surface of the liver to delineate the surgical area. Bramhall used an argon spray gun to stamp his signature.
Such imprinting is usually harmless and disappears after a short period of time, but in women with the problem, the liver did not repair itself in the normal way, and the signature remained and was discovered.
Bramhall was taken to court, where he admitted that he had left SB signatures on the livers of both patients. He stated that his motive was just to keep a souvenir.
The court will hold a hearing on sentencing on the 12th of next month. Regarding Branhol's exaggerated behavior, some patient rights groups said that patients are not books that can be autographed.
It’s really scary to meet such a doctor!