You twanged a distant chord that had been dormant in me
What lovelorn surgeon wrote to patient after conducting intimate examination
AN INFATUATED surgeon wrote a love letter to a patient after seeing her for a bowel examination.
Sachiendra Amaragiri, 59, told the woman she had ‘twanged some distant chord which had laid dormant in me’.
The married father of three said she ‘induced unusually extraordinary tender feelings of weakness in my emotional setting’, and that it had required ‘enormous mental strength’ to remain professional.
In the letter, sent after she saw the consultant for a colonoscopy, he asked if she would like to meet him for ‘an afternoon coffee or tea’, a medical tribunal was told.
Feeling ‘violated’ that the NHS surgeon had obtained her home address, the patient complained to police before reporting him to the General Medical Council.
Colorectal specialist Mr Amara- giri insisted his feelings were ‘pure from my heart’. He described the letter as ‘a moment of madness’ but said it was ‘sad’ his request to meet the patient had been ‘interpreted so cheaply’.
The woman, referred to as Patient A, was admitted to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, West Midlands, in July 2015, the Medi- cal Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing was told.
She was referred to Mr Amaragiri, who studied medicine in India before training as a surgeon in Britain. The following September she saw him for a colonoscopy, which is the passing of a camera into the patient’s bowel.
Robin Kitching, counsel for the GMC, told the hearing in Manchester: ‘She was asked to undress, leaving a bra on and hospital gown. Apart from the hospital gown she was naked from the waist down.’
Mr Amaragiri – whom she had seen once before – carried out the probe assisted by a nurse, and at that stage there was no inappropriate behaviour, Mr Kitching said. The surgeon
‘Extraordinary feelings’
conducted a biopsy, and Patient A’s results were clear. But she then received Mr Amaragiri’s letter, in an envelope franked at the hospital but with a post mark near his home in Consett, County Durham.
It read: ‘For a number of weeks I have been deliberating and strongly resisted writing this.
‘However, my feelings and my emotions have taken the better of my logical rational reasoning. When you stepped into my clinic … I was suddenly stunned and taken aback by your presence. You twanged some distant chord which had laid dormant in me for so many years.’
The letter went on: ‘I have been unable to fathom this power you hold on me … I had to summon enormous mental strength to remove myself from showing any emotional feelings and perform my intended duties unemotionally and professionally.’
He added: ‘I strongly feel I am taking advantage of the information I have about you and I am sure you will feel that I have dipped below your expectation and belief in me as a doctor. May I have the honour of inviting you for an afternoon coffee or tea in a place of your choice?’
Police concluded no criminal offence was committed, but advised Patient A to contact the GMC. Mr Kitching said the experience had left her with a ‘lack of trust’ in doctors.
Mr Amaragiri, who did not attend the hearing, insisted he had not taken advantage of his position. Writing to the GMC, he said: ‘I was never physically attracted to her … I never had or have any intention of causing any hurt in any manner.’
But he acknowledged that inviting her for a drink was ‘a mistake’.
Last night he said he had not told his wife of 22 years Gill Steel, 55, about the love letter, saying: ‘I really feel sorry for her.’ But he added: ‘I think she will accept my apology.’
Mr Amaragiri could be struck off if he is found guilty of misconduct.
The hearing continues.