Woman killed herself after ‘unnecessary’ ovary removal
Eminent surgeon told his patient someone her age ‘doesn’t really need them’ and they ‘got in the way’
ONE of Britain’s best known surgeons is under investigation after one of his patients committed suicide following needless removal of her ovaries “because they were getting in the way”.
Anthony Dixon, who had built up an international reputation for using surgical mesh to fix bowel problems, saw Lucinda Methuen-campbell, 58, at a private hospital in 2016.
Mr Dixon, who has been suspended from two hospitals in Bristol, allegedly told Mrs Methuen-campbell that he removed her ovaries during bowel surgery “because they were in the way”. She had not authorised their removal.
Mrs Methuen-campbell had a vaginal mesh implant inserted to help with the bowel disorder but it left her in agony. She was later found hanged after telling Philip Chatfield, her former partner, that there didn’t seem to be a way out of the pain.
Mr Chatfield, a sculptor, said: “The pain continued to get worse and nobody seemed able to solve the problem. Mr Dixon performed the operation in 2016 with the mesh but it was unsuccessful and caused her to be in agony. She had a follow-up operation which made things even worse.”
In an interview with the BBC after the operation in 2016, Mrs Methuencampbell said she had not consented to removal of her ovaries during consultations at The Spire Hospital in Bristol.
She said their removal was not mentioned before surgery, and if it had, she might have been “vaguely prepared”.
She said at the time: “He said he thought he’d done me a favour. And he said: ‘I thought, you know, a woman of your age wouldn’t really need her ovaries.’ I said, ‘Why did you remove them?’ and he said, ‘They were in the way’.” She added: “My life is absolutely ruined, but you know, I can’t say that it’s Mr Dixon [who has] ruined my life.”
In January this year, Mr Chatfield found his ex-partner hanged in the attic of her home in Three Crosses village, near Swansea. Nearby was a message from her to Angus, their son, which read: “I’m sorry Angus, I love you, best son ever.”
Aled Gruffydd, Swansea assistant coroner, said: “The operation on Mrs Methuen-campbell was unsuccessful and made her pain worse and it affected her mental health.” Recording a verdict of suicide, he said he was satisfied she intended to take her own life. Speaking after the inquest, her son said: “She was very upset that her ovaries had been removed.”
Mr Dixon had an international reputation for using mesh rectopexy to fix bowel problems, but is suspended from performing this surgery at two hospitals in Bristol. The NHS has referred him to the General Medical Council over mesh procedures. North Bristol NHS Trust is investigating the consultant, who worked at Southmead Hospital and The Spire private hospital.
Mr Dixon has previously said all operations can have problems but his are done in good faith and the majority are successful.
In recent years vaginal mesh implants have become controversial as it was found a number of women were reporting negative side effects.
The implants are devices used by surgeons to treat pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence in women, conditions that commonly occur after childbirth. Some women have reported severe and constant abdominal and vaginal pain following the surgery.
Others have experienced infections and bleeding, while many have said that their original incontinence symptoms have not been noticeably improved by the surgery.