Surgeon suspended over claims he branded a patient's liver

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | December 24, 2013 | Miranda Prynne

[steelhead_trout]

A surgeon has been suspended after allegedly branding his initials into a transplant patient's liver.

Consultant Simon Bramhall, 48, is accused of burning 'SB' onto a patient's liver as he operated on him.

The letters were spotted by a colleague during routine surgery on the unnamed patient.

It is now feared the letters may have been imprinted onto hundreds of other transplant recipients.

[wizkid]

He is probably a psychopath, which is a quality suited for surgeons. My father was a surgeon and had strong narcissistic if not psychopathic tendencies so I have a bit of knowledge on the subject.

Smithsonian - The Pros to Being a Psychopath

Can psychopaths have a positive impact on society, as opposed to just using their advantages to get ahead?

I’ve interviewed a lot of special forces troops, especially the British Special Air Service. They’re like Navy Seals. That’s a very good example of people who are pretty high on those psychopathic traits who are actually in a perfect occupation. Also, I interview in the book a top neurosurgeon—this was a surgeon who takes on operations that are especially risky—who said to me, “The most important thing when you’re conducting a dangerous operation, a risky operation, is you’ve got to be very cool under pressure, you’ve got to be focused. You can’t have too much empathy for the person that you’re operating on, because you wouldn’t be able to conduct that operation.” Surgeons do very nasty things to people when they’re on the operating table. If things do go wrong, the most important facet in a surgeon’s arsenal is decisiveness. You cannot freeze.

My dad was not a very good father but he was a fine surgeon. One time, I asked him what he was most proud of and it was reattaching all the fingers on a two year old's hand. He was the type of surgeon that operated with microscopes attached to his glasses.

Another time, my mom nagged at him for picking his nails at the dinner table. Apparently, a roofer had fallen into a vat of hot tar and he had spent the afternoon picking it out of this poor soul. I guess his glove had either melted or shredded at some point because it had gotten under his nails. In any case, he informed my mother that he would pick his nails any damned where that he pleased.

Sometimes, I think the media portrays all psychopaths as ax murdering serial killers to fool the public. There are many professions including a lot of politicians and the clergy where they do quite well. Of course, it is not in their interest for the public to know this.

[Mack the knife]

This is manufactured outrage.

It has been common for over a decade for surgeons using a cauterizing scalpel during a gall bladder surgery to verify that the scalpel is “hot” by searing the liver — it grows back.