I thought it made horrifying reading, and I am shocked that no lessons have been learned.
at least eight former patients of the Gender Dysphoria Clinic at Melbourne's Monash Medical Centre believe they may have been misdiagnosed. Some have tried to commit suicide while struggling to live as the opposite sex after the irreversible operations
One former patient, "Andrew", who was 21 when he had his penis and testicles replaced with a false vagina, was awarded damages after claiming Dr Kennedy misdiagnosed him as a transsexual in the late 1980s.
Since the surgery, he has twice tried to take his own life and has undergone operations to reconstruct a penis and remove breast implants. He says he will never be able to have children, is unable to work and feels like a "mutilated freak"
In the past few weeks, a 66-year-old who also underwent surgery to become a woman following a diagnosis by Dr Kennedy, settled his claim out of court. The man, who was sexually abused by his mother for seven years from the age of eight, was referred for a sex-change operation in 1996 despite another psychiatrist, stating in his medical notes that "surgery would make little difference" to his life.
the review found that countless patients were given sex changes without proper mental health checks before or after surgery.
A second review in 2006 found half of all patients had significant psychiatric conditions, such as borderline personality disorder and psychotic depression, but many were still operated on. There was no evidence that patients' underlying mental problems were treated or their risk of suicide monitored.
The reviews also found most patients had been prescribed hormones almost immediately and in some cases were referred to a plastic surgeon before being sent for psychiatric assessment.