A disturbing scene in SBS medical drama Doctor X: Mafia in White, starring Kim Ji Won, has drawn comparisons to a real-life case involving a British surgeon who branded his initials onto patients’ livers.
In the fourth episode, brilliant surgeon Gye Su Jeong (played by Kim Ji Won) discovers the initials “D.N” on a patient’s liver during emergency surgery, raising questions about Na Dae Il (Jang Seung Jo), the doctor who previously operated on him.
Na had been portrayed as a dedicated physician willing to take risks to save lives. While serving as a military doctor, he performed emergency surgery on Kwon Chung Hyun, who suffered severe internal bleeding after being abused. Believing the patient would not survive the trip to a military hospital, Na operated alone at a rural clinic.
However, when Kwon requires another operation, Na becomes visibly anxious and rushes to the operating room after learning that the patient will undergo open surgery. The mysterious initials suggest a darker side to the seemingly heroic doctor.
The episode recorded nationwide ratings of 18.5%, according to Nielsen Korea, with a peak of 20.8%, setting a new series high.
The storyline bears a striking resemblance to the case of Simon Bramhall, a British transplant surgeon who burned his initials into the livers of two patients during operations in February and August 2013.
Bramhall used an argon beam coagulator, a surgical device normally used to control bleeding, to mark the letters “SB” onto the organs. The markings measured approximately 1.6 inches (4.1 centimeters) and were discovered by another surgeon during a follow-up operation after one of the transplanted livers failed about a week later. The branding was not established as the cause of the organ failure.
Bramhall pleaded guilty to two counts of assault in 2017 and was subsequently fined £10,000 and ordered to perform community service. He had resigned from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in 2014.
Although an earlier disciplinary tribunal imposed a suspension that was later overturned, a fresh review in January 2022 resulted in Bramhall being struck off the U.K. medical register.
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