A WOMAN who was operated on seven times by a breast surgeon said he was a “god” to her – until she learned there was never any reason for her to go under the knife.
Butcher Ian Paterson performed botched or unnecessary operations on more than 1,000 patients over 14 years.
Victims have now spoken out about their horror for a new ITV doc after it was revealed some of his patients may have died as a result of his unnecessary work.
Carole Johnson said she believed her surgeries had halted breast cancer. She was left devastated after learning all seven ops were unnecessary.
“He’d stopped me from getting cancer,” she told film-makers.
“He was like God to me.”
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Another patient, Nicky Craig, said the Birmingham-based consultant struck “fear” into her so she’d agree to an operation.
“He put the fear into me for the entire time that I had to keep going back to have the examinations,” she said.
Paterson was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after he was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three of unlawful wounding.
Jurors heard the medic, who lived in a £1.5million house and dined in Michelin-starred restaurants, needlessly maimed nine women and one man.
Now a coroner is investigating whether Paterson, 64 — who was the lead breast clinician for the NHS Solihull Hospital and worked privately for Spire — could have caused hundreds of deaths.
The medic invented a “cleavage sparing” mastectomy technique.
The surgery left breast tissue in place, which allowed cancer to return in some sufferers.
Other patients had surgery they never needed. Some found out years later they hadn’t ever suffered from cancer.
Mum-of-three Debbie Douglas underwent a partial mastectomy which left 50 per cent of her breast tissue behind, as well as seven months of aggressive chemotherapy and a gall bladder removal.
“I really want to know – how did he get away with it?” she said.
“How was he allowed to work for 20 years harming people?”
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which now runs Solihull Hospital, said: “The Trust wholly condemns Paterson’s actions between 1993 and 2011 and the actions, inaction, culture, and poor governance surrounding decisions made by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, who we merged with in 2018, during that time.
“Too many patients received horrendous treatment at the hands of Paterson, and we continue to do our utmost to support them.”
Spire Healthcare said: “We apologise for the significant distress and harm suffered by patients who were treated by Ian Paterson in our hospitals.
“Spire has changed radically since 2011.
“Our culture, management and standards have been overhauled, with safety and quality sitting at the heart of everything we do.
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“Systems are in place to recruit, oversee and audit consultants and identify any whose practice could give rise to concern and we are able to take action quickly.”
Bodies of Evidence: The Butcher Surgeon is available to watch on ITV Hub.
