Patel denies making up patient's tumour Former Bundaberg surgeon Jayant Patel denies he lied about the existence of a tumour to justify removing his patient's bowel. The former surgeon is on trial in Brisbane accused of unnecessarily removing patient Ian Vowles' large bowel and rectum to treat a non-cancerous polyp in 2004. Patel was called as the first witness for the defence on Thursday, the ninth day of the trial. He told the District Court an examination of Mr Vowles' colon in September 2004 picked up a polyp and a more concerning "flat growth." The Indian-born, American-trained doctor said the findings raised a flag because Mr Vowles was only 57 and already had two cancers removed from his colon. However, Crown Prosecutor Peter Davis, QC, said there was no independent evidence of the existence of a "flat growth." It wasn't mentioned in surgical notes and a pathologist's report on tissue samples taken at the September examination referred to just one polyp. Mr Davis said Patel's own barrister had contradicted the surgeon's evidence in an earlier trial of the same case. The barrister had said the flat growth was found during the operation, not before it, Mr Davis said. "What you're trying to do ... is manufacture this notion of a forth growth, namely the flat growth, to try to demonstrate that Mr Vowles was sicker than what he was," Mr Davis said. "I disagree," Patel replied. The doctor explained that tissue samples from both the polyp and the flat growth had been accidentally mixed up in the same bottle. He could not explain why the junior surgeon who took notes during the colon examination had not recorded the flat growth. Mr Davis also challenged Patel's assertion he gave Mr Vowles the option of doing nothing and checking on the lesions in three months. The doctor also said he explained the consequences of the operation, including that Mr Vowles would require a stoma bag and could become impotent. But Mr Davis said the patient maintains he was given no option and little explanation about why he had to have the major operation. Patel, who said he hasn't practised since 2005, said Mr Vowles had a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer. He said there was a very high risk that pre-cancerous lesions would turn malignant. If he did not have previous colon cancers, I would not have taken it out. Mr Vowles, 66, has ongoing health issues including a colostomy bag, fatigue and impotence. His defence is expected to call two colourectal specialists as its final witnesses on Friday.