A Bristol surgeon removed a woman’s ovaries without her consent because they “got in the way” while he was performing mesh surgery, according to reports.

Tony Dixon was internationally renowned for his use of mesh in bowel and pelvic surgery, using the material to fix prolapses often experienced by women after childbirth. After several women complained that his mesh surgery had left them in severe pain, Dixon was suspended from performing certain procedures at two hospitals in Bristol, and he is currently under investigation by the NHS.

Now, BBC News reports that Dixon removed the ovaries of Lucinda Methuen Campbell, a woman from Wales who came to him for mesh surgery in 2014.

Methuen Campbell was found dead at her home in January, and the coroner is currently investigating her cause of death. Before she died, she told the BBC that she had not consented to Dixon removing her ovaries as part of the mesh surgery, which she had when she was 54 to avoid a hysterectomy.

She said she had extensive consultations with Dixon before the surgery, where she was informed that she had problems requiring surgery on her womb as well as her bowel.

However, she said they never discussed the possibility that her ovaries would be removed. Afterwards, Methuen Campbell said that Dixon “said he thought he’d done me a favour.

“And he said: ‘I thought you know, a woman of your age wouldn’t really need her ovaries.’

“I said, ‘Why did you remove them?’ and he said ‘They were in the way’.”

Mesh surgeon accused of removing woman’s ovaries without her consent