An NHS surgeon who is said to have removed a man's healthy lung in a cancer blunder has been accused of a second major error.
Mohammed Asif allegedly carried out an invasive and painful thoracotomy to remove Stacey Ruthven's tumour which wasn't cancerous.
Ms Ruthven, 32, told the Daily Record she's been in agony since the operation at Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, East Dunbartonshire in 2016.
Senior management there launched an investigation into the doctor in December after allegations emerged he had botched a lung operation more recently.
Ms Ruthven, who is a mother-of-two, said: "The doctor I initially saw at Glasgow Royal Infirmary was extremely dubious about the need for a thoracotomy to remove a very small growth that I had on my spine.
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"He told me he had seen patients with worse tumours and others with more tumours who had opted not to have surgery.
"In these cases, the decision was taken to monitor and make sure the growths didn’t increase in size or become cancerous.
"But when I was referred to Mr Asif, he insisted surgery was definitely necessary, and said a thoracotomy was the only option as opposed to far less invasive keyhole surgery.
"I was a young woman, only 28 at the time, and when someone is telling you this with such conviction, you go along with it."
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Ms Ruthven first lodged the complaint in 2018 and the case has now been reopened.
The surgeon diagnosed the former beauty therapist, who had been training to become a gym instructor before the operation, with post-thoracotomy pain syndrome after the procedure.
But Ms Ruthven, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, said: "I would like to know whether it was the case that this operation couldn’t have been done through keyhole surgery, and if it was really necessary in the first place, given my tumour was only four millimetres and non-cancerous.
"One of my biggest concerns is also that I just do not feel the potential dangers were explained beforehand properly.
"Mr Asif told me a brain surgeon didn’t need to be present for my operation, despite the fact it involved my spinal cord – but my appointment was cancelled the first time around because it turned out that was not the case.
"Before the operation, I didn’t feel I had a significant problem with my health. Afterwards, Mr Asif very quickly diagnosed me with post-thoracotomy pain syndrome and told me this would be for the foreseeable future.
"I asked him why he hadn’t told me this was a possibility beforehand but I got no good explanation.
"I could have gone through my whole life without needing to have surgery."
Mr Asif wrongly removed 55-year-old Brian Connolly's healthy lung and the procedure has left the kitchen fitter seriously ill.
And Labour’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon has raised serious concerns over the new case and questioned transparency at the hospital.
She said: "It is alarming, however, to learn that the surgeon had previously been at the centre of a botched surgery complaint.
"That case pre-dates Mr Connolly’s operation and raises fresh questions about the health board’s procedures.
"These are extremely serious and worrying matters that require full transparency. Patient safety must always come first."
Mr Asif has been approached for comment.
MacGregor, Medical Director at the NHS Golden Jubilee, said: “In line with the national complaints process, NHS Golden Jubilee fully respond directly to any concern raised by an individual.
“As a national NHS board committed to providing high quality services, patient experience is a priority for us and any complaints are treated very seriously.”
The health board claimed it couldn’t provide the number of complaints that had been received about Asif but said there had been 82 formal complaints about surgical mistakes last year.
Some 62,500 procedures were carried out.
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