Gynaecologist at centre of inquiry following patients' heartbreaking claims

A Medical Council inquiry into poor professional performance by Dr. Peter Van Gene, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Aut Even private hospital in Co. Kilkenny, has resumed.

The inquiry was launched after it was alleged that hysterectomies carried out by Dr. Van Gene resulted in severe complications in four separate cases.

In 2009, it is alleged that Dr. Van Gene performed a vaginal hysterectomy without ascertaining whether it was clinically justified.

It is claimed that the doctor, the following year, then performed a hysterectomy and pelvic floor repair which resulted in significant blood loss.

Thirteen months later, the consultant obstetrician allegedly performed a hysterectomy without prior consent while that same year it is claimed that the doctor carried out a vaginal hysterectomy which caused a significant post-operative bleed.

Commenting on the severity of her case, one of the women at the centre of the inquiry asserted: "Mentally, I’m destroyed. My whole life has been turned upside down. I wet myself and I’m crippled with pain. I can’t walk properly anymore and I can’t work."

Speaking at the inquiry earlier today, Professor Ray O'Sullivan, the clinical director of St. Luke's Hospital Kilkenny, stated he was aware that a number of patients had experienced problems after surgery with Dr. Van Geene.

Further to this, Professor Des Winters, a consultant surgeon at St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin asserted that he examined one of Dr. Van Geene's patients following her surgery and she had a chronic anal fissure and a fistula in her vagina.

The inquiry heard that Dr. Van Geene's patients were treated with a distinct lack of compassion following their surgery, with one patient recalling that the doctor had told her he "took out my womb and threw it in a bucket on the floor."

The inquiry will continue on Friday.