'BSE-free surgery bid led to patient deaths'

An inquiry is being launched today into whether disposable surgical instruments, introduced to prevent the spread of human BSE, could have caused illnesses and even deaths after routine operations.

Doctors began using the " throwaway kits" for tonsil operations in January 2001, after the Department of Health warned that variant CJD - the human form of mad cow disease - could be transmitted when normal instruments are reused.

However, the experiment was suspended in December last year after doctors raised concerns about an apparent increase in complications following operations. Patients suffered secondary haemorrhages days after having tonsils removed, sometimes leading to serious loss of blood. At least two deaths were linked to the use of disposable instruments.

Deputy chief medical officer, Dr Pat Troop, said the risk of vCJD transmission via surgical instruments was only "theoretical" and that it was therefore not considered right to continue using the plastic instruments.

A Department of Health spokesman said an audit is being launched today of tonsil and adenoid operations in England during the period of disposable instrument-use. The spokesman said: "The recent review of tonsil surgery which we carried out in conjunction with surgeons showed that there were a number of factors other than single-use instruments which may cause post-operative bleeding."

Two-year-old Crawford Roney was found dead due to massive bleeding six days after a tonsil operation using the throwaway instruments at a hospital in Cheadle, Cheshire, last year. Elaine Basham, 32, of east Cleveland, died of a heart attack following a secondary haemorrhage in November.

Disposable utensils are still in use in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, at surgeons' discretion.