Doctor deregistered after botched facelift calls for ambulance

A Queensland doctor has been deregistered after a patient left his clinic in an ambulance following a botched cosmetic surgery procedure. The patient left the clinic with uncontrolled bleeding from a damaged artery that required hospital treatment and prompted an investigation by the Medical Board of Australia.

Dr Shahram Sadeghi (Registration No: MED0000960591) had owned and operated a clinic in the Brisbane suburb of Grange — the Elinay Cosmetic Surgery — and performed a facelift procedure on the patient on 1 May 2019. The patient, known as ‘RF’, had consulted the doctor in relation to his acne scarring.

A Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision reveals Sadeghi admitted surgical procedures were performed by him in an unlicensed facility; had inadequate training and experience to perform facelift procedures; failed to exercise appropriate skill, care and judgement in respect to RF; performed the procedure in breach of legal and professional requirement; and engaged in false and misleading advertising.

Prior to conducting the procedure on RF, the tribunal heard, Sadeghi had never previously conducted such an operation — and had only ever assisted a surgeon some seven years earlier. RF was not informed by Sadeghi of Sadeghi’s lack of training or experience, and the clinic website gave misleading information about his credentials.

“Dr Sadeghi told me briefly that he had completed further training in order to become a cosmetic surgeon, but he didn’t provide me with any specifics about this,” RF told the tribunal, which found that Sadeghi had falsely claimed to have completed further training to become a cosmetic surgeon.

Little of the procedure was able to be recalled by RF as, he said, he was “drifting in and out of consciousness”. However, RF did overhear a nurse saying he was losing too much blood. After Sadeghi called 000, RF was rushed to hospital. At hospital, RF underwent surgery to repair damage to the occipital artery; RF spent two days in hospital and said it took him approximately three weeks to fully recover.

Sadeghi’s conduct was found to be “extremely serious and a very significant departure from proper standards” by the tribunal, which stated in its decision: “The conduct strikes at the very heart of medical training and the trust that the public at large reposes in the profession.

“Cancellation of Dr Sadeghi’s registration is the proper sanction in addition to a reprimand as it sends the clearest possible deterrent signal to other medical practitioners about the dangers and inappropriateness of acting beyond their training and experience.”

Regarding the tribunal decision, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) CEO Justin Untersteiner said it sends a strong message to practitioners. “The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust,” Untersteiner said.

“It is vitally important that practitioners undertaking cosmetic procedures perform these within their field of expertise and experience and that they honestly and ethically provide information to their patients around the procedure and its risks,” Untersteiner added. “Patient welfare must come first.”

Dr Susan O’Dwyer, Medical Board of Australia Chair, said the tribunal decision reminded doctors to practise within their skillset and tell their patients the truth. “Doctors are the best judge of what they are trained to,” O’Dwyer said. “We need to be honest with our patients about our limits and refer patients to specialists when they need care we are not trained to provide safely.”

For information to support safer practice, including the cosmetic surgery standard and guidelines, and the guidelines for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, visit the Cosmetic Surgery Hub.

Ahpra and the National Boards encourage patients and practitioners to report unsafe practice. Call the Cosmetic Surgery Hotline on 1300 361 041 to report bad practice and help protect others.

Image credit: iStock.com/Krishna Tedjo