Bravado of Dr Death led to fatal complications, nurse tells inquiry

ONE of his patient’s intestines spilled out of her stomach after surgery, another man’s wound unravelled three times. In more than 20 years as a nurse, Toni Hoffman had never seen a surgeon like Dr Jayant Patel.

Speaking on the opening day of a state government inquiry into how Patel was allowed to practice medicine in Australia's Queensland state despite having been cited for gross negligence in the US states of Oregon and New York, Hoffman said the Indian-born surgeon's "bravado" and desire to carry out complicated procedures got him and his patients into trouble.

"It was also just his whole persona, his whole bravado about things," she said.