Coroner Seeks Contact With Families of 106 More Patients of Jailed Surgeon Ian Paterson

Coroner Judge Richard Foster has issued an appeal for the families of 106 more patients treated by jailed breast surgeon Ian Paterson to make contact. Inquests are currently underway to determine if Paterson's treatment or care contributed to the unnatural deaths of 70 women. The list of 106 additional patients, which includes six men, has been published on the investigation website, prompting an appeal for next of kin to connect with Higgs LLP, the solicitors for the inquests.

"We are simply seeking cause of death information to assess whether the deaths of these former patients of Mr Paterson will be investigated," a spokesperson for the law firm told the BBC. The disgraced surgeon operated on cancer patients at both NHS and private hospitals in the West Midlands over a period of 14 years. Paterson was convicted in 2017 for wounding patients through botched and unnecessary operations, receiving a 20-year prison sentence. He is scheduled for automatic release halfway through his sentence in 2027, prior to the conclusion of the inquests in Birmingham.

During his trial, it was revealed that Paterson's surgical technique involved leaving behind residual breast tissue to preserve patients' cleavage appearance, a practice that contravened national guidelines. Investigations have so far identified 106 patients who died between 1995 and July 2026. His unregulated "cleavage-sparing" mastectomies are believed to have led to the recurrence of the disease in numerous patients. Other patients underwent surgeries that were not medically necessary, with some discovering years later they had never had cancer. The procedures resulted in severe and lasting physical and psychological harm to all victims, with one woman being unable to breastfeed her child as a consequence.