Patient’s fury after she says non-cancerous tumour needlessly removed I could have gone my whole life without needing any surgery.. but after he operated, I’m in constant pain with a huge scar and my job dreams have been wrecked
A rogue NHS surgeon who is said to have removed a man’s healthy lung in a cancer blunder has been accused of a second major error.
It’ s claimed that Mohammed Asif carried out an invasive and painful thoracotomy to remove a mum’s tumour which was not cancerous.
Mother-of-two Stacy Ruthven says she has been in constant agony since the op, which she claims was not necessary.
The 32-year-old came forward to say she suffered broken ribs and will endure life-long pain from a huge scar around her back and chest after her procedure in 2016.
Asif was suspended in December after we revealecd the allegations around the botched lung op.
Senior management at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank have launched an investigation into Asif – who has twice been allowed to keep his job despite committing sexually motivated offences against two women.
Stacy – a former beauty therapist who had been training to become a gym instructor before the operation – first lodged an official complaint in 2018. The case has now been re-opened.
She said: “The doctor I initially saw at Glasgow Royal Infirmary was extremely dubious about the need for a thoracotomy to remove a very small growth that I had on my spine.
“He told me he had seen patients with worse tumours and others with more tumours who had opted not to have surgery.
“In these cases, the decision was taken to monitor and make sure the growths didn’t increase in size or become cancerous.
“But when I was referred to Mr Asif, he insisted surgery was definitely necessary, and said a thoracotomy was the only option as opposed to far less invasive keyhole surgery. I was a young woman, only 28 at the time, and when someone is telling you this with such conviction, you go along with it.
“I would like to know whether it was the case that this operation couldn’t have been done through keyhole surgery, and if it was really necessary in the first place, given my tumour was only four millimetres and non-cancerous. “One of my biggest concerns is also that I just do not feel the potential dangers were explained beforehand properly.
“Mr Asif told me a brain surgeon didn’t need to be present for my operation, despite the fact it involved my spinal cord – but my appointment was cancelled the f irst time around because it turned out that was not the case. “Before the operation, I didn’t feel I had a significant problem with my health. Afterwards, Mr
Asif very quickly diagnosed me with post- thoracotomy pain syndrome and told me this would be for the foreseeable future.
“I asked him why he hadn’t told me this was a possibility beforehand but I got no good explanation.
“If I had been properly informed of the dangers, I don’t think I would have wanted to go through with it when other options were clearly available.
“I could have gone through my whole life without needing to have surgery.”
We told in December how Brian Connolly believed his healthy lung was wrongly removed by Asif in a botched operation.
The 55-year- old was told no cancer had been found in the organ after it was taken out.
The hospital’s medical director Mark MacGregor and nursing director Anne Marie Cavanagh visited Brian at his home, and Asif was suspended after our story. Kitchen fitter Brian has been left unable to work and is seriously ill with fears over his remaining lung.
Stacy, from Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, added: “I just couldn’t believe it when I read about Brian because I realised that he had the same experience as me, and it confirmed so many things.
“I had complained about Mr Asif way before Brian even received his operation but I was more or less ignored.
“This whole thing has had a huge impact on my life. I wanted to be a g ym instructor but I don’t think I could ever have a physical job now because of the injuries.
“I have been left with osteoarthritis in the area around the scar and that will only get worse. I think Mr Asif has to take some responsibility here.”
Labour’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon has raised ser ious concerns over the new case and quest ioned transparency at the hospital. She said: “The Golden Jubilee took swift action to suspend Mohammed Asi f af ter the Sunday Mail reported Brian Connolly’s ordeal.
“It is alarming, howe ver, to learn that the surgeon had prev iously been at the centre of a botched surgery complaint. “That case pre - dat e s M r
Connolly’s operation and raises fresh questions about the health board’s procedures.
“These are extremely serious and worrying matters that require full transparency. Patient safety must always come first.”
We revealed earlier this year how Asif was allowed to stay in his job despite two sexually motivated offences.
One of the cases was in 2013 when Scotland’s Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman, was the most senior member of the Golden Jubilee’s board.
It related to an incident involving a female colleague whi le As i f wa s v i s i t ing Crosshouse Hospi t a l in Kilmarnock. The woman did not compl a in about hi s behav iour but employees alleged to have witnessed it raised the issue with management.
Asif was suspended from the Golden Jubilee as a result but allowed to return within eight weeks. Freeman has denied any involvement in action taken against the surgeon.
In 2017, after Freeman had left the Golden Jubilee, Asif was again accused of inappropriate conduct with a medical rep.
It was alleged he reduced her to tears by inviting her into his office and producing a bottle of champagne. He was originally investigated by police over the incident but prosecutors dropped the action.
An official warning was issued by the General Medical Council but the watchdog decided against a full hearing and Asif returned to work.
The current investigation into Asif is likely to take several months and is expected to involve input from a thoracic surgeon from another health board.
Freeman chaired a meeting at the Golden Jubilee that ratified Asif ’s appointment in 2011, despite questions over his experience.
MacGregor, Medical Director at the NHS Golden Jubilee, said: “In line with the national compla ints process, NHS Golden Jubilee fully respond directly to any concern raised by an individual.
“As a national NHS board committed to providing high qual ity ser v ices, pat ient experience is a priority for us and any complaints are treated very seriously.”
The health board claimed it couldn’t provide the number of compla ints that had been received about Asif but said there had been 82 formal complaints about surgical mistakes last year.
Some 62,500 procedures were carried out.