Mom Kills Herself After Doctor Removes Her Ovaries Without Her Knowing

A Welsh woman whose ovaries were removed without her consent during an operation to mend a bowel disorder killed herself because of the pain, an inquest found.

Lucinda Methuen-Campbell, 58, from Swansea, Wales, was told by her surgeon after the operation that her ovaries were “in the way” during the surgery in Bristol, England, according to BBC News.

Methuen-Campbell had been in pain for years but the surgery made it worse, assistant coroner Aled Gruffydd heard before concluding that Methuen-Campbell died by suicide.

After suffering years of pain, Methuen-Campbell underwent surgery at the private Spire hospital in 2016 performed by Dr. Tony Dixon, a surgeon who had built up an international reputation for using mesh to fix bowel issues. Dixon is now suspended from two hospitals in Bristol and is under investigation by the National Health Service (NHS) and the General Medical Council (GMC) over the mesh procedures.

In an interview with the BBC after the operation in 2016, Methuen-Campbell claimed she had not consented to her ovaries being removed during consultations before the surgery. She said that the removal was never mentioned, and if it had she would have been “vaguely prepared.”

“He said he thought he’d done me a favor. And he said, ‘I thought you know, a woman of your age wouldn’t really need her ovaries,’” she said at the time. “I said, ‘Why did you remove them?’ and he just said, ‘They were in the way.’ My life is absolutely ruined but you know, I can’t say that it’s Mr. Dixon’s ruined my life.”

After the surgery, Methuen-Campbell told her ex-partner, Philip Chatfield, that there “didn’t seem to be a way out of the pain” before she hanged herself in her attic.

“The pain continued to get worse and nobody seemed able to solve the problem,” Chatfield said. “Mr. Dixon performed the operation in 2016 with the mesh but it was unsuccessful and caused her to be in agony. She had a follow-up operation which made things even worse.”

Methuen-Campbell reportedly left a note for her 19-year-old son that said, “I’m sorry Angus, I love you, best son ever.”

Gruffydd said, “The operation on Mrs. Methuen-Campbell was unsuccessful and made her pain worse and it affected her mental health.”

“I’m satisfied without doubt that she intended to take her own life. The pain she was in led to her taking her own life,” he said in his conclusion.

Methuen-Campbell’s son, Angus, said after the inquest that “She was in a great deal of pain after the operations and she was very upset that her ovaries had been removed.”

North Bristol NHS Trust medical director Dr. Chris Burton said, “The surgeon under review is not currently providing any clinical services to patients at our hospital. It is very important that we investigate this matter fully and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on specific details while our investigations are ongoing.”