A man whose stomach was removed by mistake has said he took drug overdoses on four occasions afterwards because of the effect on his life.
Alan O'Gorman, 26, is taking legal proceedings against St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin.
The High Court has heard that hospital staff mixed up Mr O'Gorman's tissue samples with those of a 70-year-old cancer patient; Mr O'Gorman's stomach was removed in error in February 2002.
Mr O'Gorman told the court today that he was 'so annoyed and bitter' at St Vincent's Hospital that he took an overdose of pain killers and checked into the hospital's A&E department 18 months after his gastrectomy.
'I thought maybe I wouldn't come around and show them exactly what they had done to me,' Mr O'Gorman said. He added that he took overdoses of sleeping tablets on three separate occasions.
Mr O'Gorman said consultant surgeon Justin Geoghegan had told him it was too risky to carry out further tests before the operation even though he was the youngest patient he had ever treated for stomach cancer.
Mr O'Gorman also said the surgeon denied afterwards that he agreed to carry out a gastrectomy first and checked to see if the cancer had spread.
Mr O'Gorman told the High Court he now suffers permanent damage to his digestive system and cannot get enough nourishment to hold down a full-time job.
