A disgraced gynaecologist accused by dozens of women of performing botched and needless operations on them has told Guardian Australia his patients are “misinformed” and that “complications can arise from any surgery”.
Emil Shawky Gayed has spoken publicly about accusations against him for the first time since Guardian Australia revealed he had been found guilty by the New South Wales civil and administrative tribunal of carrying out multiple procedures that fell “significantly below” professional standards.
The procedures included cases where women who could have been treated with painkillers and bed rest instead underwent invasive surgeries.
Since then, dozens more women have come forward, sparking an independent inquiry into the five health districts where he worked. The inquiry is due to report back on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, speaking from his home on Sydney’s northern beaches, he told Guardian Australia that he had not spoken up until now because his patients were like his “children”.
“They [the patients] are unfortunately misinformed,” he said.
The former surgeon said he could “easily defend himself” from the allegations but had chosen not to, out of respect for the privacy of his patients.
“To clear me of the allegations, I will have to expose certain things, which I don’t wish to do,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is like my children are suing me and I cannot even defend myself. Because I care for my patients and I like to do the right thing.”
But Christy Smith, who was told by a gynaecologist that Gayed had stitched her vagina almost shut after childbirth and that she needed surgery to repair it, said Gayed’s comments were “ridiculous”.
“I would never sew up my children’s private parts. Or perform any sort of malpractice against my children … I would not like to be his child.”
But Gayed maintained he had performed his operations skilfully, despite the complaints.
“I have worked for 42 years in medicine,” he said. “I have done thousands of operations. That place where they claim I was not doing them properly, I was there for 18 years.
“I was the one doing the surgery. The fact that somebody else said something different [doesn’t matter]. In medicine you can have different opinions.”
He insisted only one side of the story had been told and said he was under attack. He said he had worked in Taree, where many of his former patients are based, for nearly two decades.
“Unfortunately we are all humans, so I have people who attack me,” he said. “Complications can happen because this is the nature of the business.
“I don’t wish to defend myself, it’s a very delicate area. I’m not dealing with the manufacture of cars, I’m dealing with humans, people. And there are thousands of people who are very upset about what’s going on, and even people who offered to come from the country to meet with me and I said no. I mean a doctor will defend his people, but sadly I cannot defend myself.”
Since the tribunal hearing and Guardian Australia’s investigation, a second HCCC investigation has been launched. The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, also ordered an independent inquiry be conducted into the way complaints against Gayed were handled by the HCCC and the five health districts where he was known to work. High-profile barrister Gail Furness, one of the child sexual abuse royal commissioners, is leading the investigation and will deliver her findings to the NSW government on Wednesday.
The managers of the Manning rural referral hospital in Taree previously told Guardian Australia that Gayed was performing ablation at a staggering rate – almost 60% more frequently than his peers. Ablation is a procedure to surgically destroy the lining of the uterus in women with heavy periods. The hospital said Gayed performed an ablation procedure on a woman with known hyperplasia, which goes against all medical advice because the procedure can disguise cancer and trigger further cancer growth. By the time the woman came into the hospital emergency department in February this year with heavy vaginal bleeding, five years had passed since Gayed performed the ablation and her cancer was advanced. The doctors could not save her.
The hospital immediately audited Gayed’s other patients going back a decade and identified nine other women he had treated with ablation despite the presence of hyperplasia. They are in the process of having biopsies to find out if they have cancer.
The tribunal hearing also heard Gayed performed ablation on a woman in Taree despite her being pregnant. He failed to detect her pregnancy during routine scans, and upon discovering the pregnancy after the ablation he paid for her to have an abortion. He failed to notify the hospital of his error as is standard procedure. The ordeal left the woman severely traumatised. The tribunal also heard Gayed unnecessarily removed another woman’s healthy right ovary after she miscarried.
Other women have alleged they were left with life-threatening infections and ongoing pain after Gayed performed surgery on them. Four separate law firms are investigating complaints made by dozens of women, and the law firm Slater & Gordon is gathering evidence for a potential class-action after it was revealed Gayed had a history of complaints against him dating back to 1997.
Documents obtained by Guardian Australia show Gayed obtained his bachelor of medicine at Ain Shams University in Egypt. He became a fellow of the Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1993. He was first registered as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in 1994, and worked at the Manning for about two decades, as well as at the Mayo private hospital, a private clinic in Taree, and at private clinics in Dee Why and Mona Vale in Sydney.
He relinquished his medical registration in 2016 after an official HCCC investigation was launched. In June, the tribunal found him guilty of professional misconduct and barred him for applying to re-register as a doctor for three years.
Do you know more? melissa.davey@theguardian.com
