The Telegraph reports a disturbing case involving a female to male patient. This patient had agreed to a hysterectomy, but repeatedly stated that they wished their vagina to remain intact. Not only did the surgeon remove the patient's vagina, but his colleague falsely amended the surgical form to make it appear the patient had consented. The patient describes the devastating impact upon their life and the surgeon has been fined and suspended. This case highlights the myriad problems with surgical interventions. In this case, the surgeon deliberately falsified records after performing an operation the patient had specifically refused. But what if the patient regrets the surgery even after giving consent? What if surgery is not a solution, but creates further, intractable problems? Why isn't therapy promoted first? I think there will come a point in the future when these draconian surgical interventions will be looked at with astonishment.
^Two Harley Street doctors have been suspended after mistakenly removing the vagina of a transgender patient without his consent.In what is believed to be the first case of its kind its kind inBritain the man - who was transitioning from a woman - was left “distraught” after the irreversible gender reassignment procedure was carried out.
A disciplinary tribunal heard that Giulio Garaffa, a gender reassignment consultant, mistakenly carried out the procedure and that his colleague Dr Marco Capece, in what was described as “a moment of panic”, “dishonestly” altered a form to say that consent had in fact been given^