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Call for inquiry into scandal-hit surgeon

Call for inquiry into scandal-hit surgeon

More than 170 people, mostly ex-patients, have now signed a petition calling for a public inquiry into the legacy of a scandal-hit surgeon.

Professor Muftah Salem Eljamel, who was a consultant neurological surgeon in Tayside from 1995, was suspended from his post last year after a patient underwent surgery on the wrong spinal disc.

Many more people have come forward to say they were left with long-term health difficulties after surgery by Mr Eljamel, who remains registered with the General Medical Council but without a licence to practise.

David Vile, 44, of Kirriemuir, said he has been left on a cocktail of medication after undergoing two discectomy operations by Mr Eljamel in 2007 and 2009.

He was given the news that nothing further could be done following his final procedure and has now requested a full medical review from NHS Tayside.

Mr Vile said he struggles with getting dressed and the effect of surgery has left him physically and mentally scarred.

Monica Stuntz, 55, from Longforgan, who suffers from dwarfism, said she has been left in a wheelchair after undergoing spinal stenosis surgery five times.

Bobby Hanlon of Cellardyke claimed he has been left disabled after being referred to Ninewells Hospital in 2007 after suffering back pain and spasms for several years.

Mr Hanlon claimed he was kept in hospital for three-and-a-half months after the surgeon pierced the fluid-filled sac from the spine to the brain. He said he was taken back to theatre to try to mend the leakage but ended up in intensive care with an infection after his back filled up with poison.

Mr Hanlon said the spinal pain and shooting pain in his legs has continued to get worse and he eventually lost his job as an HGV driver.

He said he was referred back to Professor Eljamel who sent him to the pain clinic and said there was nothing more they could do for him.

“I was told to go back to my GP and get my painkillers increased,” he said.

“My daughter got married last year and I managed to walk her down the aisle. But I had to be taken home halfway through the meal, missing the speeches and her first dance.”

Christine McKay of Bankfoot said she was left with a gaping hole in her back following successful spinal surgery in 2010.

She said: “After getting home the glue opened up and I was left with a big hole in my back.

“I took a full 10 months to recover as it had to be healed from the inside out.”

Army veteran Steve Howarth from Dundee said back surgery by Prof Eljamel three years ago left him unable to work.

“The pain is as bad now as before I had the surgery,” he said.

“I’m only 39 but feel about 59 sometimes. I was recently taken to hospital for the second time with acute abdominal pains and severe vomiting. They don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

The petition for a public inquiry was launched by cognitive behavioural therapist Kimi Cowie McCash from Dundee.