Hysterectomy rules too late for Neary victims, says group

ALARM bells would have rung earlier about the number of hysterectomies performed by disgraced doctor Michael Neary if, as is the case now, he had to seek a second opinion, a campaign group has claimed.

The health authority has confirmed that doctors at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, must seek a second opinion to ensure a caesarean hysterectomy is appropriate.

Patient Focus, which represents 130 former patients of Dr Neary, said the move to avoid needless hysterectomies was a positive one - but added it was a pity a second opinion was not obligatory when Dr Neary was working at the hospital.

“Had the requirement been introduced sooner it would have saved some women from undergoing the procedure, but obviously lessons have now been learned and hopefully we are not going to have a doctor like Dr Neary again,” said spokesperson Cathriona Molloy.

Alarm bells in this controversy were first raised in late 1998, not by Dr Neary’s medical colleagues, but by two student nurses.

Those nurses risked their careers by challenging a consultant about the high level of caesarean hysterectomies he was performing.

The Medical Council then suspended Dr Neary in early 1999. In July 2003 it found Dr Neary guilty of professional misconduct for needlessly removing the wombs of 10 patients and ruled that his name be struck off the register.

The Health Service Executive North East confirmed to the Irish Medical News that one caesarean hysterectomy was carried out at the hospital last year and a further procedure was carried out this year.

It said that in both cases the decision was undertaken by more than two consultant obstetricians.

Meanwhile, Patient Focus said they had received many distressed calls from women who had been left in legal limbo as a result of the decision not to prosecute Dr Neary due to insufficient evidence.

Patient Focus represents 20 of the women whose files have disappeared but it is understood that the medical records of at least 35 women had gone missing. The group now accepts that the files will never be found.

Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney has consulted the Attorney General on the legal issues involved and will decide on whether to establish a redress board after she has read the report of the Neary inquiry, due next month.