Thompsons Solicitors was appointed by the court in July 2021 to manage claims against the surgeon after leading litigation in 2017
A leading medical negligence law firm has seen hundreds more former patients of disgraced breast surgeon, Ian Paterson, turn to them for legal support in the last 12 months – and not just for inappropriate breast surgery, for which he has become infamous.
Five years on from his prison sentence being increased from 15 to 20 years at the Royal Courts of Justice on 3 August 2017, social justice law firm Thompsons Solicitors has revealed it has received enquiries from more than 200 ex-patients of Paterson in the last 12 months alone, seeking to make claims for compensation for a range of surgical procedures that go beyond unnecessary breast operations.
The new enquiries come after the team at Thompsons Solicitors, who were lead litigators in 2017, were asked to manage the new fund when the Paterson Trust reopened in July 2021. The Paterson Trust was originally established in 2017 and compensated hundreds of victims of the surgeon.
Paterson had been carrying out unnecessary surgical procedures and operations, including lumpectomies when biopsies would suffice, mastectomies on women who did not have breast cancer and cleavage sparing mastectomies, a procedure not recognised in clinical practice.
We are urging anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Ian Paterson, at any time, to come forward and seek compensation for their injuries. Our job is to ensure any victim of Paterson, whenever they may have been contacted, gets the maximum compensation.
Linda Millband, national practice lead for clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors
Linda Millband, national practice lead for clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors, said:
“We’ve already seen more than 200 additional patients come to us for legal support after the reopening of the Paterson Trust, but considering the size of the recall, which runs into the thousands, we expect the real number of patients who could have a legal case to be a lot higher.
“What’s more concerning is that those coming through to us are not just victims of his unnecessary breast operations. We are seeing examples of other invasive procedures too – including hernias, varicose veins and colonoscopies – which appear to have been done in a similar cavalier manner to his needless breast cancer operations. A decade on from Paterson being suspended by the General Medical Council, we’re still not certain if we’ve seen the full scale of his malpractice.
“We are urging anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Ian Paterson, at any time, to come forward and seek compensation for their injuries. Our job is to ensure any victim of Paterson, whenever they may have been contacted, gets the maximum compensation.”
If you believe you have been a victim of Ian Paterson, contact Thompsons Solicitors www.thompsons.law.