Man had needless breast op after surgeon’s ‘cancer lies’
A MAN with a phobia about surgery underwent an unnecessary double mastectomy after being told by a specialist he was “on the road to cancer”, a court heard yesterday.
John Ingram had the operation after allegedly receiving the prognosis from expert Ian Paterson.
Paterson, 59, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, is said to have carried out “unnecessary” private procedures over a 14-year period in order to boost his earnings and reputation, Nottingham Crown Court was told.
Mr Ingram, 53, was in fact only suffering from a “common problem” and Paterson had been “lying” to him to justify the procedure. Mr Ingram, who is Paterson’s only alleged male victim, said the 2006 surgery left him in agony.
Paterson who worked for the NHS and had a practice at two Spire Healthcare hospitals in the Birmingham area, denies 20 counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on nine female patients and Mr Ingram between 1997 and 2011.
Mr Ingram told how he was referred to Paterson, whose word he took as “gospel”, by his GP after discovering a lump under his right nipple at the age of 42. He said Paterson told him the best thing would be to “have the whole thing out”, adding he was “very, very scared about the operation”.
Following the operation Mr Ingram said Paterson had told him everything was fine but when he returned for his results the specialist had strongly recommended he have both breasts removed.
Julian Christopher QC, prosecuting, told the court: “There had been no justification for carrying out the mastectomies or even proposing them to Mr Ingram, whose agreement to the operation had been obtained by lying about the pathological findings.”
The hearing continues.