Dr Death labelled a psychopath by former US patient

BRISBANE - A former United States patient who successfully sued Dr Jayant Patel over botched colon surgery performed in Oregon has labelled the surgeon a psychopath.

John Dulley went into surgery to have his colon fixed and ended up with his urethra severed and humiliating consequences, according to an interview on the Nine Network's 60 Minutes program.

Mr Dulley said he was meant to have two operations, but instead had five in order to repair the damage caused by Dr Patel, who has been linked with 87 deaths at Bundaberg Base Hospital.

"They had to rearrange my testicles to take skin off to fix the urethra and it left me impotent," Mr Dulley said.

Asked what sort of person could be responsible for such a botched operation, Mr Dulley said: "It appears in retrospect that he was a sociopath and when he went to your country, based on the records that I've seen, he became a psychopath."

A commission of inquiry set up to investigate the Indian-trained surgeon dubbed Dr Death is due to start public hearings in Bundaberg tomorrow and many of his former patients are expected to testify.

Dr Patel, a US citizen, came to Bundaberg in 2003 after he was found guilty of gross negligence in the US and his right to practise there was restricted.

In 1998, US authorities investigated 79 of his cases, including three deaths.

Oregon Medical Association associate executive director Jim Kronenburg told 60 Minutes he was shocked by the havoc Dr Patel wrought, citing the case of a clamp that was left in the stomach of one patient that was operated on.

"Many of these things are not an issue of competence or judgment -- they are just wrong," he said.

"They are things that no physician in my long experience would even contemplate doing. I mean they are just crazy."

The commission of inquiry, headed by Tony Morris QC, has recommended the immediate extradition of Dr Patel to face several charges including murder and fraud.

He fled Australia on April 1 and was believed to be in Portland, Oregon, where he owns a home and where his wife, also a doctor, still works.

A month ago, 60 Minutes hired a former FBI agent to track down Dr Patel. The agent said Dr Patel had emerged from the family home on June 6 to buy videos and milk and he was seen in the backyard of his home on June 10.

- AAP