A CELEBRITY surgeon from Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies is being sued by 57 male patients – including some claiming they were left INFERTILE.
One man says he was even left impotent when his prostrate gland was literally ‘cooked’ after being zapped with controversial laser treatment.
Cancer surgeon Manu Nair is already under investigation of the General Medical Council (GMC).
The consultant urologist has been suspended from private practice and can only work within an NHS setting under supervision.
But now 57 patients have instructed medical negligence lawyers to take legal action after they suffered problems following treatment by the surgeon.
Many of the patients had prostate cancer treatment or surgery but then later found out they didn’t even have the disease.
Others were given a laser treatment known as High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HFIU) despite it not being approved by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE).
The patients have since received letters from Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham and Spire Parkway private hospital in Solihull, West Mids.
They were told Nair’s practices had been reviewed and that a number of his patients were being recalled for review after conditions were imposed upon him by the GMC.
One patient who is taking legal action was left infertile and suffering from incontinence after the surgeon carried out a new laser treatment on him in 2012.
The man claims he was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and was told by Nair he faced a “life or death situation”.
But a month after receiving the controversial HIFU treatment the patient was in agonising pain and passed two large pieces of tissue from his penis.
After being rushed to A&E he was told he had passed parts of his prostate gland which had been “cooked” by the laser treatment.
The man, from Birmingham, now suffers from urinary incontinence and impotence and is unable to start a family with his wife-of-23-years.
He said: “My whole way of life has changed and being told that I can no longer have children is just soul-destroying.
“I was relatively young when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and I had so much to look forward to in my life.
“I was horrified when I discovered that I had passed part of my dead prostate gland after treatment I had been recommended by Dr Manu Nair.
“It was the single most painful experience of my life and it has left me with permanent damage.
The patient has also been reviewed by a different consultant urologist who told him he was “misled to some extent that this was aggressive cancer”.
Nair, who appeared as an expert on the popular Channel 4 show ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ has previously been suspended by the GMC.
He continues to be under investigation by the public body which has placed strict conditions on his medical practice.
He was suspended by the Heart of England NHS Trust, which runs Heartlands Hospital, in April 2014 and resigned in July last year.
But he now works at the Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust under the conditions imposed by the GMC.
Lawyers at Irwin Mitchell are now investigating the group of patients’ complaints which include prostate cancer diagnosis issues and the delivering of HIFU treatment not approved by NICE.
Other complaints include unnecessary nephrectomy (removal of kidney), unnecessary green light laser treatment and incomplete prostate removal potentially leaving malignant tissue behind.
The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust has already admitted that in one case that it was negligent for Dr Nair to recommend HIFU treatment and that there was a failure to inform their patient that there was no follow up data regarding the treatment.
Solicitor Adam Wright said: “It is concerning to be contacted by so many patients affected by problems after being treated by the same surgeon and we are conducting an investigation into the concerns raised into Dr Manu Nair’s practices.
“The treatments received by our clients vary.
“Some of them received radical surgery for a pre-malignant condition, some received HIFU treatment which at the time was yet to be approved by NICE.
“Some of our clients did require radical surgery but the surgical technique adopted by Dr Manu Nair was improper, resulting potentially in the spread of their prostate cancer for some of the men.
“We have also been instructed by some women affected by kidney treatments they received.
“Sadly, the sanctions placed upon his practice by the GMC came too late in the day for the large number of patients already affected who appear to have suffered serious damage to their health as a result.”
A drop-in legal clinic patients worried about treatment they received from Nair is being held by Irwin Mitchell on Monday in Birmingham.
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