Patients suing Amsterdam UMC for botched facial surgeries in transgender care

Four patients are suing the Amsterdam UMC for damage allegedly caused by failed facial surgeries during their transgender care, Zembla reports. The four women underwent feminization interventions for their gender transition, and all say they suffered permanent injuries from the surgeries. “The hospital has made serious mistakes with vulnerable people,” lawyer Johan Oosterhagen, who represents the victims, said to Zembla.

All surgeries were performed by the same doctor, a surgeon from the Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery (MKA). The four patients also say that the surgeon persuaded them to undergo more procedures than they wanted. The Amsterdam hospital has not acknowledged liability, but has paid out compensation of 35,000 euros to one of the patients.

One patient had surgery on her forehead and nose in 2021. After the operation, she had a crack in the base of her skull. Amsterdam UMC says that it is “not likely” that the tear is the result of the surgery. But on an audio recording in Zembla’s possession, an ENT doctor from the Amsterdam hospital can be heard telling the patient that the tear “occurred after the operation, so undoubtedly it had something to do with that.”

Another patient underwent a jaw correction in 2016. The saw blade got stuck during the jaw surgery and had to be pried loose, breaking off a piece of bone, according to the case she filed against the hospital in 2023. The surgeon replaced the bone fragment loose. A professor appointed by the court as an independent expert called that the wrong decision. The patient then underwent a facelift, which was performed incorrectly and without medical necessity, the expert notes.

Since the surgeries, the patient has an asymmetrical face, constant pain, large scars, and hair loss. The expert also said that the information provided by the surgeon does not meet the professional standards. The complication with the jaw surgery is noted in the surgical support, but Amsterdam UMC now denies that any mistakes were made, according to Zembla.

In the third case, the patient struggles with breathing problems and damaged vocal cords after a failed nose operation. And the fourth patient has a permanently drooping eyelid, leaving her eye almost closed.

All four victims say they received little information about the procedures and the associated risks. They also say that the surgeon encouraged them to undergo more operations than they wanted. In some cases, the hospital allegedly provided the insurer with incorrect information about the medical necessity of the procedure.

The hospital told Zembla that Amsterdam UMC always puts the “wishes and satisfaction of the care recipient first in the (offer of) treatment.” It denies that the patients received little to no information about the risks involved in the surgeries and says that operations are never performed without medical indication. The hospital says it can't comment on individual patients’ cases “due to privacy rules and medical confidentiality.”