Peterborough surgeon put wrong-sided prosthetic knee into patient before attempting cover-up

Emyr Chowdhury claimed a labelling error was to blame for putting a right-knee prosthesis into the patient’s left side before spending months attempting to hide the truth.

He could now be struck off after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found he had acted “dishonestly” following the procedure in April 2016.

According to the findings of a recent tribunal, Mr Chowdhury:

. Implanted the wrong-sided replacement prosthesis having failed to check it was correct

. Failed to identify the mistake in a post-op X-ray that the wrong-sided replacement knee had been implanted

. Falsely claimed that X-rays showed the patient had the correct-sided implant

. Claimed there had been a “labelling error” rather than the wrong prosthesis being used, without proof

. Failed to reveal the surgical error to either senior staff members, the patient or their GP.

Mr Chowdhury has worked for the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust since 2008 where he was practising as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon specialising in hip and knee arthroplasty at Peterborough City Hospital.

According to the tribunal, Mr Chowdhury was aware of his mistake on August 30, 2016, but in September wrote to the patient’s GP stating that there was no need for a follow-up appointment for six months.

He also lied to the patient that it was “impossible to check” at the time of the procedure (a revision left total knee arthroplasty with distal femoral replacement rotating hinge arthroplasty) that the correct-sided replacement prosthesis has been implanted.

The tribunal noted that Mr Chowdhury was “distressed” at the patient’s presentation in a follow-up outpatient appointment but did not report his mistake because “he knew he would be in ‘trouble’.”

It was accepted by the tribunal that, “it was more likely than not” that the outer box of the prosthesis said “left” and the inner label said “right,” but that “by January 2017 Mr Chowdhury had removed the prosthesis from Patient A’s left knee and had seen that it was etched with the letter ‘R’ indicating that it was a right-sided prosthesis”.

It added: “Mr Chowdhury therefore knew that if he, or any other colleague in theatre that day, had correctly checked the outer box, inner packaging and component itself, it would have been clear that the wrong-sided prosthesis was being used.”

It was noted during the hearing that Mr Chowdhury is “a person of good character who has no previous regulatory findings, disciplinary matters, cautions or convictions recorded against him”.

A decision will now be made on whether he will be struck off.

Dr Kanchan Rege, chief medical officer for the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, said: “As the GMC hearing has yet to conclude it would be inappropriate to make any comment at this stage.”