A U.K. surgeon who pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating in December for branding his initials into the livers of two of his patients was sentenced Jan. 12 to pay a £10,000 (roughly $13,700) fine and serve a 12-month community order, The Guardian reports.
Simon Bramhall, MD, a former consultant surgeon at the liver unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in Edgbaston, Birmingham, was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, according to the report.
On Feb. 9, 2013, and Aug. 21, 2013, Dr. Bramhall reportedly used an argon beam to burn his initials into the livers of two patients. Authorities discovered the marks after another surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham discovered Dr. Bramhall's initials on one of the patients during a follow-up surgery. The surgeon reportedly took a photo of the marks on his cellphone, The Guardian reports.
Health experts said the marks do not impair the organ's function and should disappear on their own, according to the report.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham said in a statement, "The trust is clear that [Dr.] Bramhall made a mistake in the context of a complex clinical situation and this has been dealt with via the appropriate authorities, including the trust as his then employer. We can reassure his patients that there was no impact whatsoever on the quality of his clinical outcomes."
In February of last year, Dr. Bramhall was issued a formal warning by the U.K.'s General Medical Council. "While this failing in itself is not so serious as to require any restriction on Mr Bramhall’s registration, it is necessary in response to issue this formal warning," the council said at the time.
To read The Guardian's full report, click here.