An Italian surgeon has been suspended following investigation into an incident where he issued homophobic insults while operating on a patient.
On March 25, a surgeon at Cittiglio hospital allegedly made homophobic comments while an anaethestised patient was undergoing surgery. According to Varese News, he reportedly stated, “It’s not fair that I have to waste time operating on these f*ggots during a time of emergency”. The time of emergency was in regard to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
A fellow hospital employee was ordered to leave the hospital room after raising concerns over the homophobic comments made by the Italian surgeon. Allegations further detailed the doctor’s behaviour; “He started to get nervous during the procedure and started insulting the patient for no reason.”
In a complaint submitted to the Varese Medical Association, the operating room’s reaction was described as “stupefied, astonished at so much verbal violence.” The procedure ended with “nervousness and haste,” in which time the surgeon allegedly repeated his homophobic insults.
Following the launch of an investigation into the hospital director, the president of an LGBT+ charity – Arcigay Varese – Giovanni Boschini, said, “We want to thank those who submitted the complaint and did not remain indifferent to this intolerable act of homophobia. All our solidarity goes to the patient involved.”
Boschini further stated, “In addition to the penalties, it would also be useful to start a training course and for this reason we are available to collaborate with the hospital for diversity education courses, so that no other patient can experience a similar mishap again.”
President of the Italian Federation of Surgeons, Filippo Agnelli, highlighted that the surgeon will face “harsh sanctions” if the allegations are found to be true. He added, “If this case turns out to be true, it is extremely serious. We understand that some doctors may suffer from exhaustion from COVID but that is no excuse.”
The hospital has not issued a statement addressing this issue.
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