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CANBERRA - Horrific new allegations involving the deaths of 15 mothers and babies have been levelled against the New South Wales doctor dubbed the "Butcher of Bega".
Nicknamed for the southern coastal town in which he allegedly mutilated and sexually abused female patients, former obstetrician and gynaecologist Graeme Reeves is already under police investigation for earlier complaints by more than 500 women.
These included genital mutilation, sterilising patients without their consent, and bungled operations in which, in one example, he allegedly removed the wrong breast in a mastectomy.
Although the initial allegations centred on the time he practised illegally as an obstetrician in Bega, hundreds of complaints poured in from other areas of NSW where Reeves had previously worked after he was exposed on the Nine Network's Sunday programme.
Yesterday the programme reported Reeves was also implicated in the deaths of at least seven women and eight babies, some after alleged barbaric handling by the former doctor.
The claims were made by the families of the alleged victims to the Medical Error Action Group (MEAG), which first publicly raised concerns about Reeves following complaints of mutilation by former patients in Bega.
Spokeswoman Lorraine Long told Sunday she had spoken to 15 families regarding the new allegations, all cases in which Reeves was the attending doctor. All had reported the allegations in the past two months.
Long told the programme that Reeves had in several cases allegedly handled childbirth roughly, including one claim that he had torn a baby from its mother.
"During childbirth Dr Reeves has put his foot up against the birthing table to use as leverage while he's pulled the baby out and he has actually ripped the baby out," she said.
"In one instance when he pulled the baby out, he fell back on the floor holding the baby and the mother believed the baby was strangled because of the angle the baby was pulled out."
Reeves reported deaths as stillborn, escaping formal inquiries because neither death certificates nor coronial and other investigations are required in such cases.
"No one looks at it," Long said. She said that almost half of the deaths of mothers and babies in Reeves' care occurred during an eight-month period in 1996, and two were on the same day but at different hospitals.
Reeves is already being investigated by police Strike Force Tarella, which will now be expanded to include the latest allegations.
The allegations against Reeves began with eight alleged victims, but ballooned to more than 500 after Sunday reported its claims in February.
Former patients allege Reeves mutilated their genitals during surgery, performed unauthorised sterilisations and committed sexual assaults.
Long earlier told the programme that one alleged victim had no idea her uterus was removed and she was now sterile.
Reeves was struck off in 2004 by the NSW Medical Tribunal for ignoring the ban on working as an obstetrician.
