03.01.02
Kypros Nicolaides - The surgeon who's never
far from controversy
The
world's foremost expert in prenatal surgery, the controversial professor
Kypros Nicolaides, says his jocular bedside manner - criticised by
the General Medical Council - is just a way of helping his patients
"feel at home".
In
an interview coinciding with a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1 series on his globally-famous
work, Life Before Birth, he tells Radio Times that he also understands
why his detractors brand him a murderer for "interfering"
in the lives of unborn children at King's College hospital in south
London.
"Most
patients appreciate my openness and see the logic of the flippant
remark or joke," the 48-year-old insists. "It's done to
relax them. If you're going to break dreadful news like 'Your child
will die' to parents who arrive shaking with worry, you have to
establish a relationship with them so you can explain what you've
found. You could adopt the detached professional attitude, lower
your voice and become the stereotype of what a caring person should
be - and your patients will understand absolutely nothing. You'll
have lost before you start.
"But
if you ask about their tattoo, when they met and who picked up whom,
they wonder, 'What the hell is he talking about?' And after that
split-second shock of the unexpected, you bring them back into a
conversation. The biggest challenge when discussing major fetal
abnormality with parents is not the technical aspect of whether
you can diagnose it, but to help them to make the best decision
for themselves."
The
Greek Cypriot - who was found guilty of a serious professional misconduct
in December 2000 and lost his appeal against the reprimand last
July - believes in the past he was "grossly misunderstood because
I come from a different society. A lot of the success of my unit
is because people here were not scared to show their feelings. It
was a great sadness when that era changed, and my behaviour acquired
a dreadful inference when written down. It's difficult for me to
change because it comes from the heart, but I'm more careful about
my use of words now."
On
the ethics of prenatal surgery, Nicolaides concedes: "Yes,
I am playing God - if life is absolute. I interfere in the life
of an unborn child, either performing an operation to save it, or
supporting the parents in a termination. I understand those who
say I'm a murderer. Many nights I lie awake wondering, 'What am
I doing? Am I playing God? Do I have the right?'"
This interview is taken from the 12 - 18 January issue of
Radio Times, on sale on Tuesday 8 January.
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