Lucinda Methuen-Campbell: woman killed herself after ovaries removed without consent

A woman committed suicide following an operation to mend a bowel
disorder that resulted in the removal of her ovaries without her
consent, an inquest has heard.

British surgeon Dr Anthony Dixon, who “built up an
international reputation for using mesh to fix bowel problems”,
performed the surgery on Lucinda Methuen-Campbell at the Spire
private hospital, in Bristol, The Daily Telegraph reports. During
the op, in September 2016, he inserted a vaginal mesh implant in
the 58-year-old mother-of-one, “but it left her in agony”, says the
newspaper.

Dixon also removed her ovaries, despite having never discussed
that possibility with Methuen-Campbell, from Swansea. In a BBC
interview before she died, Methuen-Campbell said that Dixon later
told her he had taken them out because they were “in the way”.

She was later found hanged “after telling her former partner
that there didn’t ‘seem to be a way out of the pain’”, reports
The Times.

Assistant coroner Aled Gruffydd heard that she had been in pain
for years but that the surgery made it worse.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, Gruffydd said: “The
operation on Mrs Methuen-Campbell was unsuccessful and made her
pain worse and it affected her mental health.

“I’m satisfied without doubt that she intended to take her own
life. The pain she was in led to her taking her own life. She left
a note for her son, apologising.”

Following the inquest, Methuen-Campbell’s son, Angus, said: “She
was in a great deal of pain after the operations and she was very
upset that her ovaries had been removed.”

Dixon is being investigated by the NHS and the General Medical
Council, “which has imposed conditions on his medical licence,
including notifying it of all employment and disciplinary
procedures and a ban on performing a separate type of bowel
surgery”, says The Times.

North Bristol NHS Trust medical director Dr Chris Burton said:
“The surgeon under review is not currently providing any clinical
services to patients at our hospital.

“It is very important that we investigate this matter fully and
it would be inappropriate for us to comment on specific details
while our investigations are ongoing.”

Dixon has previously said his operations were carried out in
good faith and that the majority were successful.