Surgeons performed unnecessary surgery to boost income
Police in Milan have arrested 13 doctors at a private clinic, including the whole thoracic surgery team, for performing unnecessary operations to generate extra revenue. Five elderly patients are alleged to have died as a result. One 90-year-old woman was operated on three times in seven months and died on the operating table; one woman in her 20s had a mastectomy for a simple cyst; ten lung transplants were performed as an alleged cure for tuberculosis. Investigators alleged that doctors at the Santa Rita clinic had falsified medical histories and ignored the advice of specialists simply in order to make money and had treated patients with appalling cruelty. In some cases, the doctors boosted their monthly salaries by as much as 25,000 Euros. ~ London Telegraph, June 10

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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