Disgraced brain surgeon who 'experimented' on 'guinea pig' patients had over 200 victims
An inquiry into a disgraced brain surgeon who is believed to have harmed patients and left them with life-changing injuries is hearing from some of his victims.
Between 1995 and 2013, Sam Eljamel was head of neurosurgery at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital until he was suspended from his duties. He resigned the following year and removed himself from the General Medical Register in 2015.
The BBC reports that he is thought to have since returned to his native Libya, where they believe he continues to operate, and that the inquiry's attempts to make contact with the disgraced surgeon have not been successful.
Meanwhile, the Metro reports that Eljamel may have over 200 victims who had suffered due to his surgery.
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Among those is Leann Sutherland, who suffered from chronic migraines and was offered a corrective operation, which Eljamel said had a 60 percent chance of improving things for her.
During the operation, Eljamel removed a part of Leann's skull, and it is alleged that he sealed the wound with 'new glue', but after the surgery the woman's wound 'burst open' and 'brain fluid' had started trickling down her neck, resulting in her collapsing.
She said the surgery had ended up being an 'experiment' and that Eljamel had used her as a 'guinea pig', with her having to undergo surgery six more times while she also contracted meningitis as she had to stay in hospital for months.
Despite raising complaints, the woman claimed that NHS Tayside staff told her Eljamel had 'saved her life' but she said he was 'experimenting on me'.
Another of his patients, Jules Rose, told the BBC that she had gone in for an operation to remove a brain tumour in 2013 and was told by Eljamel that it had been '99 percent removed'.
She was then told Eljamel would need to perform another craniotomy to get the rest of the tumour, but afterwards she asked to see her medical records and learned that in the first operation the brain surgeon had removed her tear gland and not the tumour.
At present, 138 patients have been listed as core participants in the public inquiry, and Joanna Cherry KC, who is representing the victims, said that some patients felt they'd become 'blacklisted', described as 'season ticket holders' or 'frequent flyers' by NHS Tayside since they required so much more treatment after their botched operations.
She said that among the issues raised by patients were 'the absence of informed consent; warnings about underlying conditions which were ignored; the use of experimental medical techniques and devices which were new to the market; the lack of expertise to perform specific surgeries (and) ‘ghost surgeries’ where the surgery the patient consented to was not carried out'.
Victims said they had lost homes, jobs and relationships because of the consequences of failed medical treatments.
Cherry also told the inquiry that NHS Tayside destroyed around 40 logbooks for patients treated by Eljamel.
Inquiry chair Lord Weir had issued a 'do not destroy' order in 2024, but Cherry said that on 24 July this year, the logbooks were destroyed in an act of 'gross negligence or possible malice'.
NHS Tayside said it 'deeply regretted' destroying the logbooks and said it was done because staff were not aware of their connection with Eljamel.
The inquiry continues.
Joe Harker