A further 13 inquests have been opened into the deaths of former patients of the disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson. Consultant Paterson, 62, was convicted in 2017 of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding after being tried at Nottingham Crown Court.
An inquiry later found he carried out unnecessary operations in NHS and private hospitals on more than 1,000 patients over 14 years, exaggerating or inventing cancer risks and claiming payments for more expensive procedures. His 2017 Nottingham trial heard how he carried out unapproved ‘cleavage-sparing’ mastectomies on patients which left behind breast tissue, risking a return of cancer.
He was initially jailed for 15 years, before the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to a 20-year term. Paterson lost a 2021 bid to the same court to challenge his conviction, where three senior judges heard Paterson "denied, and indeed continues to deny, the misconduct of which he was accused at his trial."
