Class-action Suit Prevails Against 2 Plastic Surgeons in Korea

DECEMBER 15, 2008 10:08

A group of plastic surgery victims have won the first class-action suit in Korea against plastic surgeons.

The Seoul District Court awarded damages of 100 million won (72,859 U.S. dollars) to 27 patients who suffered severe side effects such as pain, irregularity and asymmetry after receiving calf reduction or partial gastrocnemius muscle resection procedures from two plastic surgeons.

The court ordered the defendants Nov. 19 to pay four million (2,914 dollars) to 5.8 million won (4.225 dollars) to each of 24 plaintiffs.

The suit was filed in March last year after six patients who suffered side effects from calf reduction surgery at a clinic in southern Seoul set up an online café. They sought people with similar cases.

Just two days after the café was set up, more than 70 people joined.

A 40-year-old woman who joined the café in July said, “I feel severe muscle pain under my heels when walking. I especially have sharp pangs in my ankles. I found I wasn’t alone in experiencing severe side effects from plastic surgery after surfing the Internet.”

The Web community now has about 2,500 members.

Calf reduction or partial gastrocnemius muscle resection procedure reduces gastrocnemius muscles to make thinner and longer calves.

The cosmetic surgery clinic received two million (1,457 dollars) to three million won (2,185 dollars) for non-incisional calf reduction, which reduces muscle bulk in the calf, and partial resection of gastrocnemius muscle by using ultrasonic waves.

Medical experts warn that both procedures can cause severe forms of neuralgia, a disease whose chief symptom is neural pain.

Dr. Yang Jong-yun, head of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Korea University Ansan Hospital, said, “Procedures that kill nerve cells that do not cause harmful effects, including inflammation, should be avoided. If doctors perform plastic surgery, they should explain the adverse side effects that could ensue.”

The court said in a statement that the hospital failed to properly warn the patients of the possible side effects and blamed the two plastic surgeons for malpractice.

One of the defendants appealed the decision, saying the other surgeon was responsible.

An attorney for the defendants said, “This class-action lawsuit suggests that victims are more likely to win a class-action lawsuit than an individual would in medical malpractice lawsuits.”

Kang Tae-eon, director-general at the civic group Consolidation for Medical Consumer, said, “Most medical malpractice in cosmetic and plastic surgery are not likely to lead to direct lawsuits due to the small amounts of money at stake, the time needed, and the cost of filing a lawsuit.”

“Since the class-action suit can save costs for filing a lawsuit and have a significant impact on future cases, similar lawsuits for medical malpractice are likely to follow.”

The civic group also said the historic ruling could deter plastic surgeons from performing reckless cosmetic surgery.

Message about my videos on You Tube

Every so often I receive a private message which serves to make the Hell of my life worth the effort it takes to continue for another day. In the face of being ridiculed by members of my own family, alienated by all but a few close friends and demeaned by those in the medical profession most able to help me, I ask myself each day: Why don't I end this nightmare now?

Then I receive a message like this and have my answer:

moooingcow has sent you a message on YouTube:

botched surgery

I feel for you and totally understand how some medical professionals are harsh and unsympathetic. I had a terrible accident in 1992 where it left adhesions in my intestines and nothing would show up in the tests but I would end up in the ER with excruciating pain 2-5x per year. It took 15 years to diagnose and they all told me it was in my head. My heart goes out to you. When I saw you doing the tests and they kept saying you had an unobstructed airway, it was making me mad that they could not see that you were obviously having trouble with the airway. There is probably so much scar tissue that doesn't show up in your tests and who knows what else lost it's nerve conduction. You'll never have one surgeon say another made a mistake. I KNOW that from experience. I only hope you can find some relief and some how find a doctor to fix or relieve the problem. Some problems like mine and not fixable, but they are manageable. I hope you have some luck. You're in my prayers. Hang in there. If you can educate others you could be saving many others from a life of hell. Thank you for the videos.

Cheers,
Laura aka Moooingcow

Intimidation in the medical industry

CBC, Canada’s national public radio and television broadcaster, presents some of the best investigative reporting today. Intimidation by Pharmaceutical Companies uncovers disturbing reports by doctors who have been intimidated by pharmaceutical companies into keeping their discoveries of dangerous and lethal drug side effects quiet.

Intimidation is rampant in every area of medicine today, including cover-ups in the area of cosmetic surgery. Reports of complications related to certain procedures, techniques, and materials used in surgery are under-reported, if reported at all. The focus of this CBC podcast is on drugs, but this kind of intimidation is pervasive in every area of medicine today, especially where the most money is made. Click here to listen to the podcast.

Dying to Be Young

Link

ABC News: Cosmetic Surgery Desperation and Depression

Link

What keeps me going...

From: Brigid359 (Original Message) Sent: 10/29/2008 4:41 AM

Dear Lucille,

I came across your story for the first time just a few hours ago (at AwfulPlasticSurgery.com) and since then have been reading through your blog and various other pages connected to your story in a kind of frenzy of shock, frustration, fury, fear, outrage, and deep grief.

I find it astonishing that you've been able to document your journey so thoroughly, sensibly and compellingly considering the extent to which you must be suffering. You will never know just how many people you're helping by doing so but I hope the knowledge that you are helping others, most probably countless others, can be of some solace.

I wish with all my heart that I could remove your pain and suffering and return to you the life that was so cruelly and callously taken from you. Failing that, please know that your eloquence, dignity and astounding courage have touched me deeply and I'll never forget you or your ongoing battle for as long as I live. I'll be walking beside you in spirit as you continue your journey sending you strength, sympathy, and loving kindness all the way.

With admiration and deep respect,

Brigid McKenna

Plastic Surgeons, Not Immune From the Economic Slump, Report a Decline in Cosmetic Procedures

HOTELS and clothing chains are not the only businesses feeling the pinch from consumers who are cutting back on retail spending.

On Tuesday plastic surgeons reported a significant drop in a range of cosmetic procedures. About 60 percent of plastic surgeons who responded to a questionnaire said they performed fewer cosmetic procedures in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to an e-mail survey conducted earlier this month by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Read more....

More on patient blacklisting

Victims of botched cosmetic surgery often end up on the blacklists of surgeons most skilled and qualified to help them. Frequently, it takes years for such patients to realize they have been blacklisted. From "DEADLY MEDICAL PRACTICES" by Trudy Newman:

"There are basically two different stratifications with patients being given a designation of either “high priority” or “low priority.” Patients with a high priority status will receive the best care available. Patients who, unbeknownst to them, receive a low priority status will get only minimal, rationed or experimental care. Patients are under tested and under treated—if they are treated at all. Alternatively, patients with a low priority status may be over tested, but they will be denied proper care or treatment. The patient may find that he is tested to death with the wrong tests being ordered for his condition. Especially vulnerable are those with chronic illnesses, the elderly, and any others whom physicians deem undesirable."

"Patients who dare to question or challenge their doctor’s authority, or the medical treatment that they receive, may find that they become BLACKLISTED ... Physicians demonstrate a stronger allegiance to their colleagues, than they do towards their innocent and trusting patients. Patients with iatrogenic illnesses often become victims of the blacklist. The problems usually start when medical mistakes are made (either intentionally or unintentionally) and denied. Then the lies and cover-up begin. Documents are often modified, falsified, mysteriously disappear, or important information is excluded from the record. Doctors will go to great lengths to avoid being held accountable, and are generally protected by their professional associations. Once the patient is blacklisted he can then expect to be subjected to character assassination from the medical profession. The patient can anticipate being attacked, discredited and demonized. How dare a patient challenge a doctor's authority? To avoid taking any responsibility for their errors, actions or behavior, doctors--and their governing bodies--will often employ the same tactics that communist countries use to quash political dissent. The patient will be labeled "difficult" or "psychiatric." Such pejorative labels are given to divert attention away from the negligent, incompetent or malpracticing doctor. Patients should not take such labels personally, because these labels say more about the physicians than they do about the patients. Blacklisting is not an error. Blacklisting is an intentional act."

"Because a patient is dealing with their doctor in good faith, it will often take a patient several years to realize what is happening. Once the veil has been lifted and the trusting patient realizes that he is being blacklisted, and is no longer in denial, he may initially experience a sense of shame questioning what he did wrong to deserve such treatment. This shame is usually transient, because after careful examination and reflection the patient rightfully realizes that he is truly the victim. Sensitive patients may experience shame for the doctor’s depravity and lack of moral character. The patient will then move on to experience a righteous indignation. Because of the incredible abuse that a patient endures, he will often experience unbelievable pain and intense anger. Unfortunately, patients are often isolated and left to try to deal with this trauma on their own. "

"Patients who pursue the complaint process through the College of Physicians and Surgeons [in Canada- in the US through State Medical Licensing Boards] because of the substandard care that they have received--often find that they are victimized a second time, because their complaints are not dealt with honestly, fairly or objectively. In the letter that outlines the conclusions of the review, the patient may find that he is attacked by the very organization he was petitioning for assistance. Patients discover that there isn’t an independent outlet to correct and resolve physician error or problems. This additional abuse from the complaint process exacerbates the existing trauma and isolation that the patient is already trying to deal with. "

"Because of the medical profession’s CODE OF SILENCE, the public is often unaware of physicians’ corrupt practices of covert rationing and blacklisting patients. Many patients are afraid to speak out about these abuses, because they fear RETALIATION by the medical community. Retaliation is a legitimate fear. Patients will often find emotional healing only when they are able to connect with other patients who are also being abused and bullied by the medical profession. " [ However, emotional healing cannot restore the victim's functional LIFE as denied appropriate medical treatment can. How many blacklisted patients lives could be restored, but are left to suffer and die because the medical profession engages in blacklisting as a normal and accepted practice?]

Health Records Software Allows Patient Blacklisting by "Flagging"

This is already in use by the Veterans Administration. It may well be a feature of other electronic health record (EHR) software used today.

Patient Blacklisting

Here is a link to interesting views on patient blacklisting
from the Bioethics Discussion Blog which will have you glued to the screen for hours.

MGH Plastic Surgery - Not interested in learning from "unfavorable outcomes"

Going through some older files, I happened across a phone message from Dr. James May, cancelling my appointment after suffering severe tissue damage after a rhinoplasty supervised by Dr. Joel Feldman. The rhinoplasty was performed too soon after a facelift, causing massive swelling which permanently stretched and detached the newly forming adhesion of the facelift. Dr. May's message (and Dr. Feldman's inadequate physical examination) exemplify the tendency of these professors of plastic surgery to ignore/discount problematic outcomes. They just sweep the dirt of their mistakes under the rug and move on to the next patient/victim.

Inadequate physical examination belies surgeons' sincerity

Reflection on my "attitude" - 2006 and now. If anything, surgeons' attitudes have reinforced my mistrust and proved their duplicity.

Should I hold onto the hope that in another country, doctors of another culture living in a different society than ours might recognize a sincere patient when they see one?

Cape Cod Hospital loses lawsuit evidence

Trouble at Cape Cod Hospital. Why am I not surprised?
Link to the article at the Cape Cod Times has a comment section worth reading.

Brian West MD - Bad Plastic Surgery

Blog dedicated to the memory of the former patients of Dr. Brian R. West who have lost their lives and to the patients who live with the lingering effects of errors and to the families and friends whose loss continues.
This blog is a must read.

Irish woman's family sue over US botched-op

By Kevin Doyle

Wednesday September 10 2008

THE family of an Irish woman who died after a botched plastic surgery operation in New York are to begin a multi-million-dollar lawsuit next week.

Tragic Kay Cregan (42) died just three days after undergoing a facelift at the Manhattan clinic of Dr Michael Sachs in Central Park South.

Shortly after the operation, she collapsed and had to be rushed from the disgraced surgeon's clinic to the nearby St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, where she died on March 17, 2005.

Her husband Liam, who did not know Kay had decided to have facial surgery, got a call at the family home in Croom to say his wife was on a life-support machine.

Liam Cregan and the Limerick couple's two young sons are now set to sue Dr Sachs with the help of a leading New York civil action lawyer, Thomas Moore.

Millions

Mr Moore said: "We will be looking for quite a bit of money. We are talking in millions of dollars at least.

"Parental loss to children is regarded in cases such as this as a very significant matter.

"The jury will have to decide on two central issues, negligence and medical malpractice, and what damages are to be awarded."

He continued: "At the end of the trial the judge will submit a written question to the jury as to the deviation from acceptable practice and the jury then answers this question.

"Depending on the verdict, the jury will then be asked about monetary damages for the loss and in New York there is no upward limit."

According to the lawyers, the case will open on Monday, but it is unlikely that the details surrounding Mrs Cregan's death will be debated until a later date.

Mr Moore said damages would be assessed on the loss of a wife, a mother of two young children, along with the pain and suffering Kay endured prior to her death.

He said the economic loss of Mrs Cregan, who was a senior official with Limerick City Council, would also be taken into account.

Dr Sachs has generated huge wealth from his practice and earlier this year sold his luxury Manhattan home to the Russian government for a reported €24m.

Kay Cregan was not aware that Dr Sachs was among the most sued doctors in the US when she paid $32,000 for the surgery.

She found out about him in an Irish Sunday newspaper which made no reference to his appalling record. Dr Sachs, has settled 33 malpractice suits since 1995.

- Kevin Doyle

Doctor keeps botched cosmetic surgery quiet

by Deidre Mussen - Sunday Star Times

A DOCTOR made a patient sign a confidentiality agreement about her botched breast enlargement at a top Auckland private hospital, a women's health group has revealed.

Her horror story comes as the Medical Council ups the ante against rogue doctors performing cosmetic procedures.

Women's Health Action Trust director Jo Fitzpatrick told the Sunday Star-Times that the doctor waived some of his fee in exchange for the woman's silence.

Fitzpatrick said the woman was too terrified to speak out and a friend contacted the trust at the end of last year to urgently seek help.

"She had weeping wounds she was a complete mess. She ended up getting so disfigured, she wouldn't go out. It's the worst case we've come across."

The doctor tried to repair the damage but failed.

The woman was worried about breaching the confidentiality agreement, so the trust told her to say she had been operated on overseas.

"We hoped once she got help, the real story would come out."

Last October, the Medical Council released guidelines setting standards doctors had to meet to perform various cosmetic procedures after a number of botched cases raised concerns. Doctors had until this year to ensure their skills were up to the required level.

"There had been procedures that had gone wrong and we felt we had to make clear what sort of training is required," council chairman John Campbell said.

Some doctors had stopped offering certain procedures, particularly liposuction, because they failed to meet the new criteria, he said. Two doctors contacted the council this year to check whether they had sufficient training for the cosmetic surgery they offered, discovered they did not and had to stop. Another doctor was under investigation after the council received a complaint about him performing cosmetic surgery.

This week, as part of a safety push in the growing cosmetic surgery industry, the council plans to release a new brochure educating patients on what to expect. It specifies the training doctors require and how patients can find out if their doctor passes the council's criteria. It also gives patients questions to ask doctors, details information needed and highlights possible risks.

The brochure also discusses what should happen before and after procedures, plus what to do if anything goes wrong. It will be sent to medical centres, GP practices and plastic and reconstructive surgeons nationwide.

But Foundation for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery president Tristan de Chalain, an Auckland-based cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon, said the council's guidelines were too lax.

The foundation recently complained to the council about an Auckland dermatologist who was performing breast augmentation.

"We have very little protection for the public here. There are still huge loopholes."

However, he praised the council for its efforts to tighten standards.

Health commissioner Ron Paterson had called for tighter restrictions on cosmetic procedures, including better patient education, after some high-profile cases, including one involving a botched genital operation.

Fitzpatrick said she knew of three women who had complained to the trust about that Auckland gynaecologist, but only one had laid a formal complaint.

"Cosmetic surgery is a very difficult area for women to complain about when things go wrong because they blame themselves. Only one woman was brave enough to complain and it's great that she got findings in her favour."

Judge Rejects Plastic Surgeon Brian West's Attempt to Get a Restraining Order Against a Former Patient

Not all judges grant restraining orders without legitimate grounds. This was an attempt by Dr. West to silence injured patients from publishing negative experiences with him on the Internet.

By DAFFODIL J. ALTAN Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 3:01 pm

Cutting Remarks

Plastic surgeon Brian West tries to get a restraining order against a former patient who got him into trouble with the state

Brian West, a plastic surgeon who practiced most recently in Huntington Beach and who is about to go on trial with the Medical Board of California for violating the terms of the board’s alcohol-abuse treatment program, is convinced one of his former patients is violently stalking him.

He’s so convinced that in mid-July, he filed for a restraining order against the former patient, Tina Minasian, as well as for one against the husband of another former patient.

“Whenever she loses in a court of law, she turns violent,” the burly, soft-spoken West nervously told a judge at a Los Angeles Superior Courthouse in Santa Monica last week. He held a stack of evidence, including printed copies of Web pages from MySpace and the site Minasian started, “Brian West MD—Bad Plastic Surgeon.”

With his buxom wife, Leighann West, by his side as a key witness, West described how he had received anonymous death threats and was afraid for his children’s safety as a result of Minasian’s relentless web activity. He told the judge he has opened a criminal stalking case with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Minasian is almost single-handedly responsible for the slew of medical-board accusations West will face in September. The hearings could result in the revocation of West’s license.

West performed a body-lift on Minasian in 2002 while practicing in Sacramento. Minasian filed a malpractice suit in 2005 after her wound healed horribly, she says. As reported in the Weekly (see “Under Wraps,” Jan. 10), just before her case went to trial, Minasian found out West was under investigation by the state medical board. She went to two of the board’s hearings and learned about West’s failure to stay sober while he was in the board’s Diversion Program—and while she was his patient.

The highly confidential program (the public were not allowed to know if their doctor was involved) gave practicing physicians with drug- and alcohol-abuse problems a way out of license revocation if they agreed to attend rehab sessions and take random urine tests. It was permanently abolished this year after failing five audits during its 27-year existence.

The board allowed West to keep his license in 2005 and put him on probation, despite his having relapsed four times while in the program. He relocated to Los Angeles and has practiced in Beverly Hills, Long Beach and Huntington Beach.

Minasian lost her malpractice case against West but learned that she could file a complaint with the state medical board. Minasian also learned the board was unaware of the dozen or so patients who had filed lawsuits against West because separate complaints were never filed with the board. She then began finding other patients who experienced similar bad outcomes after their surgeries with West—patients who had been seeing him during the time he had relapsed and been arrested for a second DUI. Minasian convinced many such patients to file complaints with the board. Many also detailed their stories, complete with gory pictures, on Minasian’s website.

Minasian’s journey didn’t stop there. She has made local and national rounds, along with other former patients, in an effort to advocate for patient safety and expose what she feels was a failed state diversion program. Their stories—and West’s—have been covered by the AP, CNN and Fox News.

All of this negative coverage has made his life a living hell, West told the judge last week. Minasian’s violent streak, he said, increases every time she suffers a loss in her battles with him. The latest, West stated in court documents, was the medical board’s recent decision that Minasian’s specific case would no longer be heard by them along with the others’ in September.

In the Santa Monica courtroom, an impatient Judge John Reid asked West if he had ever been physically assaulted or received death threats directly from Minasian, who lives hundreds of miles away in Sacramento. The ruddy-faced physician said no, not exactly. He pointed to a MySpace page that he alleged Minasian opened in his name.

That and the website with patients’ stories weren’t enough to convince the judge of her violent streak. “That’s cause for a civil lawsuit,” Reid said of the Internet activity. “To get what you want, you have to show that you’ve been attacked, stricken, assaulted and that there is perceived injury or threat to you and your family.”

In an interview, Minasian described West’s restraining-order efforts as “his attempt to compromise my First Amendment rights and to keep me from being called as a witness in September.” Minasian said she and Ken Mikulecky, the husband of a former patient who was named in the second restraining order filed by West, couldn’t afford to fly down for the brief hearing.

First Amendment lawyer James Leonard, who flew in from Oakland to represent the pair pro bono, didn’t have to make much of a case. The judge rejected West’s request after about 15 minutes of deliberation, reiterating several times that a restraining order was not “the proper vehicle” for what West was seeking. “If you were defamed, file your lawsuit,” he told the doctor.

daltan@ocweekly.com

Lethal Games Doctors Play

I receive lots of e-mail from people who have suffered devastating injuries from cosmetic procedures. More than 90% of these injuries are serious, did not involve risk factors associated with the procedure, were not due to patients' idiosyncratic physiology , but were the direct result of surgeons' negligence, lack of skill, lack of experience in executing certain procedures, etc.

Yesterday I received a message expressing what I have heard numerous times from victims of negligent surgery. I will not reveal the details of her heartbreaking physical dysfunction and disfigurement, which involve the face and neck, and were eerily similar to my own condition. What I want to share is her excellent description of the way injured patients, who most deserve the BEST care, cannot get ANY care at all. I have written about the many times I have consulted surgeons about my own life threatening condition, and never received a physical examination appropriate to the problem. My friends did not believe me until they actually accompanied me to doctors' appointments where I actually took the doctors fingers and placed them in the area where it is impossible NOT to appreciate the lack of support to the inner structures in the neck, making it necessary for me to provide this support externally with a piece of wood. You cannot make a doctor perform an adequate physical examination.

This says it all:

"I have learned all to well how doctors stand in line behind each other. If I'd been in a car accident they'd be falling all over themselves to help. But because this was another doctor's mess no one wants anything to do with me. They won't even examine me. I have fabulous insurance and enough money to get stuff fixed but they won't get involved. It is so painful to get assaulted the first time and then get rejected over and over again. I can't believe this has happened to me. I trusted this guy and all the doctors that came after him. I hate that I no longer trust anyone. I miss that part of me. I want my life back. But I can't be fixed if no one will fully examine me. The only analogy I can think of is it is like being raped and assaulted by a policeman and then having to go to the police station to get help. Having to tell your story over and over again hoping to get someone willing to help you. "

"There definitely needs to be a better way. There is no recourse against them. In California even if a doctor kills you they get a slap on the wrist. The only thing that we can do is get our stories out there. The lawyers don't make a dime so they don't want to sue. The doctors know that and feel like they are untouchable."



It is impossible for anyone who has not suffered this experience to understand how it kills the soul. It kills you thoroughly- inside and out. People who have not personally been through this Hell cannot understand how a doctor can refuse to examine you. They do not refuse outright.. . The do not elevate the interaction to that degree of honesty! It is done through subterfuge and manipulation. It is a strategic maneuver intended to make the medical record appear as if there is nothing wrong. They are expert in covering failure to perform an adequate physical examination and appropriate diagnostics through their manipulation of the language in the medical record. Risk management manuals tell doctors exactly how to legally drive injured patients around in circles... until they just drop dead. From the perspective of the medical profession, that is the point- stall off long enough and sooner or later the patient will just disappear, i.e: die.

Patient left in dark after ‘odyssey’-Suit outlines nightmare surgery at Beth Israel

A major Boston hospital that touts its commitment to “disclosure and honesty” faces legal action from an anguished veteran who says he was left in the dark for weeks after a simple cosmetic procedure spun into an “odyssey” of pain and suffering.

“I am furious that nobody at Beth Israel Deaconess cared enough to tell me what happened,” said Michael K. Hicks, 39, of Quincy. He has filed a civil suit accusing the renowned medical center of not owning up to its errors in the hours and days after his elective June 27 liposuction.

Prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Loren J. Borud, 44, was fired several weeks after the surgery, on July 18. Beth Israel first reached out to Hicks, who suffered bleeding, pain and emotional turmoil, after the Boston Herald began inquiring about Borud’s past on July 16.

More...

Patient sues plastic surgeon and Massachusetts hospital

A Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center patient yesterday sued Dr. Loren J. Borud, a plastic surgeon with a history of alcohol and drug abuse, for allegedly performing his operation while impaired.

read more | digg story

Time

I find myself in an incomprehensible position... a situation real enough to kill me, should I lose my balance on a loosening tightrope. Yet so surreal I sometimes think my death will be nothing more than an instantaneous vaporization of the molecules I call my body. I am dying... we are all dying. But for most of us, living life prevails over the ever present pull of entropy.

This is as it should be. We are born to experience life to its fullest until our death. But like breathing, it is that space between the breaths which sets the tone for what follows.
I do not fear death, nor do I invite it. I reside in a world full of high tech medical miracles and doctors who perform them. It is, therefore, inconceivable that amidst these doctors and their state-of-the-art 3D scanners capable of turning the human body with its every secret and function inside out; to see how things work or might be fixed when they don't, that the simple mechanics of what is killing me remains a mystery.

I am dying in real-time, begging at the same-time, to be fixed, or at least, that an attempt be made before there is no-time.

Doctors.. made of special stuff, or so we think. Different from us. Different from each other.
Different.

Sharing knowledge

I found the Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery while searching for articles on surgical treatment of platysma contracture. As a former subscriber to the Journal of Plastic & Reconstructive surgery, which cost me over $500/yr, I found the following editorial especially significant:
Thatte M. On ethics and information. Indian J Plast Surg [serial online] 2007 [cited 2008 Jul 7];40:1. Available from: http://www.ijps.org/text.asp?2007/40/1/1/32652
Here is an excerpt:

"I would imagine most authors want as many peers as possible to read about their work, that is why they publish it in the first place. Fortunately, in medicine we do not enforce IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) in surgical innovations or else you would pay a fee every time you did someone's procedure. This is not true of journals. Access here is guarded jealously with fees to be paid for every paper you want to read as full text after say an online search. The argument being that unless someone paid, the whole edifice of publisher, search engine and so on was not feasible. The emergence of new strategies in the IT world, where advertising makes most applications free to the end user should give us an insight into new revenue models. If these end up allowing free access to knowledge albeit in exchange for seeing ads on the way, it will still be a huge boost to the thousands of doctors in developing countries who would otherwise never access that information. At the end of the day 'information is power' and we need to enhance free flow of information to colleagues around the world."

The current issue includes an article titled "Mycobacterium fortuitum abdominal wall abscesses following liposuction" As I began reading this paper I was astonished to find the name of the hospital openly revealed. You would never find this kind of transparency in any American publication. In our "advanced" society, this would be fodder for litigation.

Whose interest is served by keeping such information from the public? Evidently, in India, they seem to be serving the most important entity in the larger scheme of medicine: Patients. Sharing of research and information is encouraged, which is a far cry from the the way we do things here, where money is the constant undercurrent of every aspect of medicine.
India is setting an example for the world of medicine in ways we, in this country, are too selfish to understand will soon have to be the only way if the whole of humanity is to benefit.

What brings you here?

What brings people to this blog? Here are some examples of what people enter into search engines (mostly Google) to arrive here:

I have an ugly face

rhinoplasty swelling journey

ugly plastic surgery (very common search)

bad male rhino

ugly plastic surgery pictures (very common search)

splitting sutures facelift

ugly breast photos

ugly lips photos

plastic surgery ugly (very common search)

cosmetic surgery nightmare

ugliest plastic surgery

ugly surgery pictures (very common search)

disastrous plastic surgery pictures

neck swelling tissue hard plastic surgery

plastic surgery for very rich

ugly breasts

ugly need plastic surgery

cosmetic lip surgery malpractice

cosmetic surgery for true medical reason

you tube ugliest face operations

ugly breast implants

cosmetic surgery victims

medical malpractice breasts

does having rhinoplasty too soon after facelift cause damage to facelift (My favorite)

plastic surgery to be ugly

plastic surgery rules to revision

cosmetic surgery side effects

plastic surgery business suffering

plastic surgery victims

plastic surgery lawsuit

power lift cosmetic surgery complaints

how to fix ugly plastic surgery

am i crazy to want cosmetic surgery

plastic surgery catastrophe

malpractice liposuction documentary

what is the bad side of cosmetic surgery

ugly after plastic surgery

you tube cosmetic facelift

you tube defamation complaints

10 things plastic surgeon

rhinoplasty for my birthday

cosmetic surgery peer review

cosmetic surgery deaths

botched trigger finger surgery

malpractice of plastic surgeons

botched cosmetic surgery

patient accuses plastic surgeon of inappropriate

consent form for cosmetic surgery by a resident

false operative reports

malpractice and comments of plastic surgeon

facelift tough skin male

swallowing difficulties with neck lift surgery
~~~~

I have excluded surgeons' names entered into searches which direct them to this blog, but they are surprisingly numerous. Most just search the doctor's name, but some are phrased:

Dr. X facelift
Dr. X malpractice
Dr. X in City, State

You get the picture. I hope they find what they are looking for.

You come from all over the world:

Japan
Finland
Australia
Spain
UK
Canada
Israel
Netherlands
Italy
Belgium
France
Germany
India
Poland
Denmark
Mexico
Greece
Aland Islands
Ireland
Singapore
Hungary
New Zealand
Switzerland
Philippines
Latvia
Nepal
Hong Kong
Egypt
Austria
Luxembourg
Sweden

Just a little FYI

Off topic, but too important to ignore

This issue effects every being on the planet.

This is a must see documentary: The World According to Monsanto

Doc slammed with $20.5 million in damages after lipo death

A jury deliberated for 14 hours over three days before awarding an 18-year-old Penn State freshman's parents $20.5 million in damages, finding the Montco doc who did her liposuction liable.

read more digg story

Push for stricter plastic surgery rules

Lawmakers and physicians' groups want increased oversight of doctors performing cosmetic procedures in outpatient facilities.

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The Bad & The Ugly... More Common than You Think

When other cosmetic surgery victims share their stories with me, I know why I continue my effort in exposing the side of this business which rarely reaches the public. Rachael Landes contacted me several weeks ago via private e-mail after joining Losing Face. Her story is compelling and all too familiar. Like many others who have been seriously injured, she wants the public to know how devastating this nightmare can be..not only its physical aspect, but the hidden repercussions attached to such injury..like patient blacklisting.

I suggested she post her messages to to Losing Face, knowing many of its readers have been victimized by the medical establishment, but think they are only part of a minuscule minority. They are not. The carnage is out there, but those who have been damaged in this profound manner are reluctant to go public for many reasons. From a personal perspective, I often wonder why I continue to subject myself to the barrage of criticism I receive, including exploitation by the media. Then I think: If I remain silent, who will expose this travesty of medicine? You develop a tough skin and must be willing to endure trashing by the public and character assassination by the medical profession to stand your ground when openly criticising high profile surgeons and institutions. More often than not, the price exacted may be your only chance to obtain medical treatment necessary for survival.

Patients and surgeons alike fall victim to the conspiracy of silence within the medical profession. Doctors are justified in their fear of blowing the whistle on incompetent colleagues or disrupting the status quo. The thanks they receive for standing the high ground are few to none. Rather, they are ostracized by peers and their livelihoods threatened. (The Cost of Courage: How the Tables Turn on Doctors) I have personally witnessed good doctors remain silent while they attempt to fix botched operations by incompetent colleagues, and the patients on the receiving end of their skills tacitly agree to remain silent as well.

Rachael is more than willing to share her story so that others may benefit from her experience, but she was not able to post long messages on the board. She gave me a green light to post her e-mail, so I have opened up pages especially for her voice - a voice that needs to be heard.

An Open Letter to Dr. Joel Feldman, Plastic Surgeon

~~ ~~~~~

Left: November 1997 - Before Facelift

Center: 7 weeks After Facelift - 1 week Before Rhinoplasty

Right: 14 months After Rhinoplasty - 16 months After Facelift

Is anyone stupid enough to believe that the sagging, detached sack of soft tissue that is my face and neck is "normal stretchback" which occurs after a facelift just over 1 year old? That is what Dr. Feldman, Dr. James May and the deceitful surgeons at MGH tried to make me believe. This is TISSUE DAMAGE resulting from the trauma of a rhinoplasty done too soon (8 weeks) after a face lift in which the tumescent technique was used. Every patient consulting Drs. Feldman and May should ask them about my case and if they would ever subject one of their own patients to this guinea pig treatment. In fact, Dr. Feldman doesn't hesitate to re-operate on his private patients who end up with a minuscule area of post-seroma rippling. My seroma involved my whole face and neck- all areas involved in the facelift. But as a "clinic patient" they thought it acceptable to treat me as if I were an experimental laboratory animal...disposable. In his book, Dr. Feldman states "If 6 months pass and an unsatisfactory state of appearance has set in, then I think it is reasonable to consider a surgery that would involve a wide undermining of the skin to provide a better chance for skin contraction and accommodation". How fortunate for his private patients. I tried to become one of them, stating in writing that I was willing to pay his full fee. However, his secretary, Laura Keefe, refused to give me an appointment, and informed me that once anyone becomes a patient at the MGH Residents' Clinic, Dr. Feldman will NOT see them as a private patient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 18, 2007

Dear Dr. Feldman:

Today is my birthday. I am 58 years old. Ten years ago I decided to give myself the ultimate birthday gift..a facelift. On October 16, 1997, I entered the Plastic Surgery Residents' Clinic at MGH at a point in my life where I had everything I ever wanted. I was in perfect health, enjoyed the love of friends and family. My life was rich, not in money or material things, but in ways money cannot buy... through my love and appreciation for nature and my creative ability to enhance that beauty as a gardener.

I was blessed at birth with a pretty face. Like most women, I enjoyed enhancing my appearance with cosmetics, keeping my body fit and healthy, adorning myself with clothes of my own design.
At 48, I succumbed to the allure of a facelift. As a well informed patient, my expectations were reasonable. I cut doctors more slack than most, having lived and worked with an MD for 12 years. I trusted doctors, as those I knew personally never displayed a hint duplicity.

The simple effort of typing this post leaves me short of breath. I am forced to live with a piece of wood pressed hard against my neck 24 hours a day to breathe. Things that require the use of two hands must be done in fits and starts, like a swimmer coming up for air. So I will not revisit details about my surgeries I have repeated ad nauseum on my website Losing Face.

The message I wish to convey to you today... my birthday, is this: Your decision, in conjunction with Dr. James May, Director of the Residents' Clinic, to perform my rhinoplasty 8 weeks after my facelift and lower blepharoplasty was imprudent and irresponsible. Your decision resulted in permanent tissue damage to all undermined areas of my face and neck. The massive swelling after my rhinoplasty damaged the newly forming adhesion between the tissue planes. My face and neck was one massive seroma; resulting in what you call a "soggy" platysma.

You refused to see me as a private patient when I offered to pay your full fee. You agreed to see me 8 months after the injurious rhinoplasty and claimed your "examination" revealed no "abnormality". While I begged and pleaded for MGH to perform simple dermatological studies on the effected tissue, even if nothing could be done surgically to improve the appearance of the sagging face I did not have before my facelift, you and MGH ignored me. You and MGH forced me to waste months of my life behind a keyboard, writing letters, literally begging and groveling for you to recognize "complications" you mention in your book "Neck Lift".

Dr. Feldman, it was your responsibility to perform my revision surgery, according to the consent I signed at MGH. Please remember that I based my decision to undergo rhinoplasty only 8 weeks after my facelift because I believed it must be safe if approved by a surgeon with your illustrious reputation. You forced me to seek a revision elsewhere and that surgery left me unable to lift my head, close my jaw, breathe or swallow normally since the day of the operation. The damaged platysma, thinned and stretched to the limit of its biomechanical extendability, was surgically manipulated in a manner that is literally killing me. Dr. 's surgically created fixed contracture of a muscle sheath devoid of any ability to stretch, has transferred the inappropriate vectors of tension to adjacent tissue. Over six physically torturous years, it has gradually and continually displaced the internal anatomy of the throat, causing the positional airway obstruction diagnosed by a pulmonologist in 2004.

The surgeon in Hyannis who removed my sutures after Dr. Barry Eppley's revision facelift said he would consider releasing the platysma muscle "if I twisted his arm". That was in July 2001 when I saw him for injection of a trigger thumb. His notes do not mention our discussion about my inability to lift my head or close my jaw, though on that day, he drew a diagram of the transverse incision he always uses in face/neck lifts, which Dr. Eppley neglected to use, in spite of his agreement to to do so. I know my own anatomy and the limitations the damaged tissue would impose upon revision. I was certain my revision would require, without exception, a release of that muscle one way or another. My present state proves I was correct.

You tried to have my accurate photos removed from the Internet with your lawsuit in Sept 2002. In October 2002, I called the doctor who originally removed my sutures intending to "twist his arm" to perform the platysma release. His secretary phoned me to say the doctor suggests I return to.. in Indiana.. when I had not been able to drive to Boston by myself because I could not lift my head to see the road and breathe at the same time. I believe your lawsuit influenced his decision, as I know it has that of other surgeons from whom I sought help... not for aesthetic reasons, but to literally save my life.

I am dying, Dr. Feldman, from an operation I would never have sought elsewhere if you had addressed my legitimate problem in a timely manner. You told writer Rich Bergeron that you did not operate on me because you thought you could not make me "happy"... Happy? I am trying to save my life! You are responsible for my ending up in the hands of another surgeon...one who led me to believe he understood the limitations of the compromised tissue you caused with your irresponsible decision to supervise my rhinoplasty before my facelift was sufficiently healed.

You told Rich Bergeron that I did not have swallowing difficulty after my rhinoplasty. Strictly speaking, I was able to swallow.. I did not have dysphagia.. Yet I have a tape recording of my conversation with Dr. May in which I am telling him the sagging tissue of my neck made chewing and swallowing feel like hard work, that I had pain directly in the area of the platysma plication when I swallowed. In this taped conversation I reminded him that the consent form stated that if a revision was necessary, the surgeon's fee would be waived. I told him that it was obvious to me that the platysma plication tore through or separated after the rhinoplasty swelling, which my documented photographs clearly prove.

Your arrogance and deceit in trying to make a judge believe it was humanly possible to deliberately contort one's face to cause the appearance of sagging I did not have before the facelift is evidence of the double standard you engage for your private patients as opposed to "clinic" patients. You prove this aspect of your character in your own book. I am certain you didn't accuse the patient with the "crinkly skin" that did not "stick down" of deliberately contorting her face and neck to make it "appear" that way as you did to me. In fact, anyone, regardless of age or skin tone, would find it quite IMPOSSIBLE to deliberately contort their face to create the sagging in my photos.

You accused me of having BDD, which I never had. I have always been far less demanding than the average patient, willing to accept the imperfections that are bound to occur. Your lawyers chewed me up and spit me out for telling the truth on the Internet, which you forced me to do because you chose to deny the obvious. I have been exploited by filmmakers, demeaned by your unscrupulous attorneys and libeled in a medical journal. You have ignored the reality of the destruction of a life which your decisions facilitated.

I am still alive, but just barely hanging on. Rich Bergeron contacted me one year ago wanting to write about my experience after seeing the HBO documentary in which I appeared, because the film made him feel as if something was "missing" from my story as it was portrayed. His intuition was accurate. He is, or more accurately, was optimistic that in interviewing the doctors involved in my surgeries, he would initiate a "happy ending" to my story. At that point, he was not able to accept that I would be left to die a slow death, suffering increasing disability until I am no longer able to survive on my own. Having accompanied me on my last appointment with an ENT specialist, he now believes differently...

I need to tell you, while I am still able, that your decisions regarding my case were fatally flawed. I have been robbed of 10 years of peace of mind, and subjected to 6 /12 years of continual physical torture. You could have prevented this, but you did not. You accused me of heinous lies and morphing photographs when you had a direct hand in causing the damage depicted in those accurate photos. I have forgotten the kind and caring person I used to be. You betrayed my trust. I hope you are never allowed to forget me when I am gone. I know Rich Bergeron will never forget what he has witnessed of my life this past year, and I know he will set the record straight regarding my experience, even if it does not have the happy conclusion he wanted. You told Rich that you thought of contacting me... but you did not. Why not? Did you not realize that all I wanted was to be treated like a human being?

I TRUSTED you. I never wanted to point the finger of blame at any doctor, but neither could I allow an opportunity for doctors to learn from my suffering to be thrown by the wayside because doctors cannot admit they are only human and make mistakes. You misjudged me because you never allowed yourself to see me as a human being, rather than a surgical case at the Resident's Clinic. You have no idea whom you helped to destroy. That sensitive, kind person died.. killed by the arrogance of a profession impressed by its own narcissistic power.

I am trying to save my life. I have begged and groveled for doctors' help for years when you and MGH deliberately denied the reality of the tissue damage. Your lawsuit which attempted to force removal of my photos from the Internet served to BLACKLIST me from receiving the medical attention I now require to SAVE MY LIFE. You are capable of saving my life.

If you remain silent and do nothing to help me, I want people to know of your refusal to accept responsibility for your actions and your disregard for my appeal to help save my life before it is too late. .
Shalom, Dr. Feldman...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photos documented by legal photographer.. No room for misrepresentation here. You cannot FAKE or deliberately contort your face to produce the sagging and "detachment" caused from massive swelling of a rhinoplasty performed too soon (8 weeks) after a facelift. This is what Dr. Feldman DENIED happened, and worse, falsely accused me of deliberately posting misleading photos online. His colleague, Dr. Barry Zide, who made libelous reference to me in the Journal of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery by accusing me of morphing photos he called "ghoulish", reviewed these same photos himself, shortly after my surgery at Mass General.. He certainly wasn't calling them morphed then.


Watch Interview with photographer & filmmaker Erika Hahn who followed my surgery journey with photo documentation for 10 years.

Do they tell the kids Mommy might end up maimed for life or dead?

New Kids' Book on Plastic Surgery Skirts Breasts

Source: Newsweek, April 15, 2008
How does a mother explain to her children why she's having a breast augmentation, a tummy tuck or a nose job? Help is on the way -- a new book for kids about plastic surgery, My Beautiful Mommy. The story features a handsome, musclebound, superhero-type male doctor and a Mommy who says that as she got older, she couldn't fit into her clothes any more. Mom explains to her child that the doctor is going to help her fix all that. Mom comes home after surgery looking slightly bruised and bandaged, but with fuller, higher breasts. The text of the book doesn't mention breasts, though; only Mom's "tummy." Michael Salzhauer, the plastic surgeon who wrote the book, said, "The tummy lends itself to an easy explanation to the children: extra skin and can't fit into your clothes. The breasts might be a stretch for a six-year-old."

PHOTOS
Gallery: Mom's New Look
Excerpts from a new picture book for the children of women who have cosmetic surgery.

Cosmetic surgery business sags as purse strings tighten :)

After years of steady growth, the multibillion-dollar industry has hit a rough patch. Consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending.

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The Sagging Demand for Plastic Surgery

If your local real estate agent's face is hanging low these days, it might be more than sadness. The recession's latest victim is cosmetic surgery. Plastic surgeons from the Southland to South Florida said some colleagues are struggling to stay in business.

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My Breast Implants Come Out

A Documentary Addict's Dream Come True

I want to share the most important website I have discovered in a very long time. http://www.freedocumentaries.org/ has a long list of the most thought provoking, insightful documentary films available.. free to watch at your convenience. The list is too long for me to include here, but you will be astonished at what you will find.. The best of the most important documentaries anywhere.. some impossible to find anywhere else.

I happened upon FreeDocumentaries.org while searching for documentary films about India, and found 'The Slow Poisoning of India'. Half way into this disturbing film I noticed a very tiny message at the top of the screen which read: "If you like this film please donate". I live on a poverty level income and $10. goes a long way with me, but I didn't hesitate for a moment in making a donation. The folks who make these life-altering films available to the public are providing a public service that is priceless.

Did you miss Michael Moore's 'SICKO' when it played at your local theatre? You can watch it for free at http://www.freedocumentaries.org/. Here are some of my favorites, and this is only taste of what you will find:

'Born Into Brothels'

DISPATCHES: SUPERMARKET SECRETS PART 1

The Future of Food

BBC News: Child Slavery with Rageh Omaar

Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs

PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER

Super Size Me

The Origins of AIDS

THE CORPORATION

ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM

This only scratches the surface. After watching my first film, I couldn't wait to e-mail everyone on my mailing list about this gold mine of docs and found myself writing in the subject line:

"Who needs TV?"

I have been riveted to my screen since. Check it out, and do donate to this extraordinary effort to raise public awareness on the most important issues today.

Watch free movies and documentary films

(Disclaimer: This is not an advertisement and I am not affiliated with this website. I simply feel compelled to share this rare find with as many people as possible for the greater good)

Lucille

Cosmetic Surgery Catastrophe

Interview with Erika Hahn, filmmaker, photographer, webmaster and my dear friend. For the past 10 years, Erika has given generously of her professional skills as a photographer and videographer in documenting the damaging results of my cosmetic surgeries. Listen to her comments on false statement made by Dr. Joel Feldman regarding accuracy of her photographs of my "fallen" facelift. Erika has been by my side through many consultations and meetings with plastic surgeons, always with sensitivity, compassion and moral support.
Here are observations of one who has been there for me every step of they way.