Celebrity cosmetic surgeon’s patient in ICU after major blood loss

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Celebrity cosmetic surgeon’s patient in ICU after major blood loss

By Adele Ferguson and Lauren Day
This article is part of a series on what really goes on in the unregulated cosmetic surgery industry and what can happen when you are under the knife.See all 49 stories.

A 42-year-old woman who underwent cosmetic surgery from an associate of controversial clinic owner Dr Daniel Lanzer was rushed to hospital on Tuesday morning in a critical condition after her husband found her unconscious from significant blood loss.

The woman is currently in the intensive care unit of St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney in a serious but stable condition after Dr Daniel Aronov conducted liposuction and a tummy tuck procedure on Monday afternoon. She later checked into a hotel as the surgery was not performed in a hospital with 24-hour care. She then started to bleed out.

Dr Daniel Aronov is the world’s most followed surgeon on TikTok.

Dr Daniel Aronov is the world’s most followed surgeon on TikTok.Credit: www.drlanzer.com.au

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE OF A PATIENT POST- SURGERY

St Vincent’s Hospital confirmed a woman had been admitted to its emergency unit in a critical condition following cosmetic surgery on Monday.

Her hemoglobin levels were at 54 and pH 6.8, which, medical expert Professor Mark Ashton said indicated “significant and major blood loss that was a life-threatening, time-critical emergency”.

Professor Ashton said it was a miracle she was alive.

Dr Aronov is an associate at Dr Lanzer’s clinics, which have been the subject of intense scrutiny in the wake of a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Four Corners which uncovered evidence of disturbing practices including hygiene and safety breaches. It also uncovered a video of other doctors dancing and laughing to the song Jolene as they performed liposuction on an unconscious patient while holding a long stainless-steel cannula.

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Dr Lanzer recently gave a legally enforceable undertaking to stop practising medicine in Australia, which the national regulator the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) said would remain in place until it completes its investigation.

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In a statement, Dr Aronov described the incident as “serious.”

“This was a serious incident and is the first time any of my patients have required hospitalisation as a result of a complication. While all patients are warned of the risks of significant complications multiple times, this does not detract from the distress experienced by this patient and her family. As soon as I was made aware of the patient’s deterioration, without hesitation I recommended an ambulance be called immediately, and then personally attended to assess the situation and assist the paramedics. I have been liaising with her treating team throughout her recovery.”

Dr Aronov is also currently being investigated by AHPRA in relation to another patient who underwent liposuction late last year.

The latest medical emergency comes just days after the joint investigation revealed Dr Aronov had filmed a mock re-enactment of a separate medical emergency involving another patient, Suzanne Steward. Ms Steward was rushed to hospital with punctured lungs following a liposuction procedure earlier this year in Dr Lanzer’s Melbourne clinic. (Dr Aronov said he had no involvement in her liposuction procedure).

Ms Steward was shown the video and didn’t see the humour. “Does he think it’s funny? I’d like to see it happen to him.”

“You don’t make a joke about something like that... No, you’re disgusting.”

In a statement last week in relation to the video, Dr Aronov said he was not mocking the patient, but rather it was a “self-mocking” video “aimed at boosting staff morale.”

Dr Aronov is the most followed cosmetic surgeon in the world on TikTok, with 13.4 million followers but his account has been silent since the media investigation went to air in late October. On Wednesday, his TikTok account had been taken down.

He has also closed down an Instagram account which contained videos of patients being operated on, hundreds of photos of near nude women and “okay or not okay” videos where he posed questions to his hundreds of thousands of followers after he became aware of the media investigation about whether he should use music with graphic and offensive language.

Calls to Dr Lanzer’s Sydney clinic were bounced to a call centre in the Philippines with a message that Dr Aronov was fully booked for the rest of the year.

Pressure on regulator

Pressure is mounting on the medical regulator, AHPRA, after another former patient revealed it had dismissed his complaint about Dr Aronov and Dr Lanzer last year following a three-month investigation.

The patient – who wants to be known as Thomas – had gynaecomastia, or “man boob” surgery with Dr Aronov at Dr Lanzer’s Brisbane Clinic in July 2019.

He says the operation has left him without the confidence to even go swimming without a shirt.

“My gynaecomastia operation was extremely brutal and painful,” he said.

Thomas says he’d been told he’d only need three days off work but ended up taking six weeks off because he was in so much pain, which he said lasted for six months and hasn’t completely disappeared over two years later.

He’s still unhappy with the appearance of his chest.

“I came into surgery with two normal breasts, with normal shaped nipples and areolas, the only issue I had was with my excess breast tissue... I am now left with deformed breasts, with creasing on both breasts and abnormally sized nipples.”

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE OF A PATIENT POST- SURGERY

In July 2020, Thomas made a complaint to the regulator AHPRA about both Dr Aronov and Dr Lanzer.

Three months later, it informed him it had decided to take no further action.

“We made a permanent record of your concerns about the practitioners on our database. We have advised Dr Daniel Lanzer and Dr Daniel Aronov about the concerns that you raised.”

“The Board takes other information into account, including: information about where and how the practitioners practise; and historical information about the practitioners. Based on all of this information, the Board believes it was not possible to conclude that the practitioners are practising unsafely.”

Dr Aronov says he warned the patient that “he would not get a perfect outcome” and “he should not undertake this procedure if he is not willing to accept the risks of imperfect skin”.

“He again reassured me that his ultimate goal was to reduce the size and droop of his chest and accepted the risk of loose skin both in writing and verbally.”

AHPRA has limited powers. It can caution a practitioner or restrict practises or refer the practitioner to another body for more serious actions. Nor does it have the power to order a practitioner to pay compensation, give a refund or apologise to a patient. A fact sheet sent to complainants last year said more than 70 per cent of matters close with no action taken and less than 1 per cent of matters end with a practitioner’s registration cancelled or suspended.

Thomas’s chest six months after his cosmetic surgery.

Thomas’s chest six months after his cosmetic surgery.

In a statement AHPRA said “immediate action is taken when we consider a practitioner may pose a serious immediate risk to the public and we need to restrict or suspend their registration while we investigate.” It said cancellation of registration is the most serious outcome available under the National Law. “Only a tribunal can cancel a practitioner’s registration. “

It comes after revelations that Melbourne’s The Alfred Hospital reported Dr Lanzer and one of his nurses to AHPRA in August this year over alleged breaches of COVID protocols and their own professional standards in regard to a patient who’d presented to the hospital with a punctured abdomen and chest after a full-body liposuction and tummy tuck at Dr Lanzer’s clinic.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal The Alfred made the official complaint after one of Dr Lanzer’s nurses visited the patient without approval, changed her wound dressings and organised a telehealth conference with the patient and Dr Lanzer.

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The Alfred’s letter to AHPRA said it was concerned the nurse had contravened her professional code of conduct in the provision of care. “We consider Dr Lanzer’s practice is not consistent with good medical practice” as outlined in AHPRA’s code of conduct for doctors in Australia.

AHPRA said it couldn’t comment on open investigations.

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