The Medical Council is preparing to go to the High Court shortly to remove obstetrician Dr Michael Neary from the register of medical practitioners.
Under council procedures, the Drogheda-based doctor has until Monday to appeal the decision of its fitness to practise committee which found him guilty of professional misconduct over hysterectomies he performed on 10 women.
The removal of Dr Neary from the medical register would help bolster more than 65 legal cases already before the court from women who say he performed unnecessary Caesarean hysterectomies on them over a 20-year period.
These cases have already been strengthened by a Supreme Court ruling last June which rejected a claim made on behalf of Dr Neary that a medical negligence case against him was outside the legal limit for bringing the action.
An additional 15 women claiming mistreatment against Dr Neary have come forward in recent weeks, according to Patient Focus, a support group which represents women who say they underwent damaging gynaecological operations at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
The biggest threat to potential legal actions, according to a spokesman for solicitors' firm MacGeehin, Toale, Nagle, which is handling most of the cases, is missing medical records.
A spokesman for the Medical Council yesterday confirmed that it was liaising with its solicitors and would go to the High Court shortly to formally erase his name from the medical register, assuming there is no appeal against the council's decision.
Assuming Dr Neary does not appeal the decision, he will become the 24th doctor to be struck off the medical register since 1994.
The doctors have been struck off for a number of reasons, including misconduct and health reasons.
The Medical Council annually receives 200-300 complaints made by patients against their doctors, which give rise to between 20 and 30 full inquiries by the committee.
Patient Focus, meanwhile, is to meet with the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, next month, when he is expected to make a decision on whether a public inquiry will be held into gynaecological practices at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
Ms Sheila O'Connor, of Patient Focus, said a public inquiry was needed so that the women affected could get answers and to ensure that mistakes which occurred at the hospital would not be repeated again.
"The women and their partners are not looking for vengeance, they're looking for answers," she said.
"It's not just about what Dr Neary did, but how other professionals responded to it. How did this happen? We need to know why there was such a breakdown in relations with patients, and what can be learned from Drogheda for other hospitals around the country."
Ms O'Connor also said medical records for up to 30 women were missing. They needed a public inquiry if their questions were to be answered adequately, she said.
Calls for an independent inquiry have been backed by Opposition TDs from Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Féin.
