Clinic of Horrors
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An Italian surgeon has been sentenced to life in prison, including three years in solitary confinement, for performing operations that led to the death of four people and injured 40 others.

Pier Paolo Brega Massone, the former chief of Milan's Santa Rita Clinic, dubbed 'clinic of horrors', "did not hesitate in performing the "unnecessary operations", including two unrequired mastectomies, "for money", chief prosecutor Grazie Pradella was quoted by Corriere as saying.

She said Massone, who in a previous trial was sentenced to 15 years and six months in prison, "has an evil nature" who "showed no compassion for other humans".

Pradella added that Massone was "motivated by money" when he performed the operations, even on those who were terminally ill, as part of a lucrative "system" that allowed him to claim reimbursements from government health funds.

His assistants, Fabio Presicci and Marco Pansera were sentenced to 30 years and 26 years and two months, respectively.

The scandal came to light in May 2008, when they were jailed on murder charges, and dates back to 2006, when four elderly patients died after unnecessary operations were performed on them.

One of the patient's died after having a lung removed, while another woman died after being "fatally weakened" following three operations to remove a tumour. At least two women had breasts removed for benign cysts.