Dr Michael Neary: what the report says

Operative Difficulty: "Dr Neary exaggerated the difficulty of the operation in many cases, possibly in order to justify the …

Operative Difficulty:"Dr Neary exaggerated the difficulty of the operation in many cases, possibly in order to justify the radical surgery he performed.He exaggerated the length of the operation . . . and repeatedly wrote remarks such as 'The most difficult operation I have ever done'."

Blood Loss:"In her report Judge Harding Clark considered that one of the possible motives for Dr Neary's Caesarean hysterectomies was his fear of blood loss . . . No such excuse can be offered in these cases. The operation of bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy without proper indication, sometimes coupled with unnecessary hysterectomy, would scarcely be considered by a doctor who feared blood loss.Such a doctor would practise conservative surgery, if any surgery at all."

Conclusion:". . appears not to have been a technically incompetent surgeon . . . [ He] appears to have reached diagnoses, frequently incorrectly, based on clinical examination alone...Yet faced with the facts at the time of surgery, he continued in very many cases to deprive women of their reproductive organs."