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."