There's a saying that truth is often stranger than fiction. This saying definitely applies in the case of one man who recently filed a lawsuit against his doctor after undergoing a total of 22 nose surgeries. The man first visited the doctor in 2006. At this time, the plaintiff claims he was convinced by the doctor to undergo a cosmetic rhinoplasty. Little did the man know, how this decision to undergo a seeminly minor surgery would impact his life, livlihood and physical and emotional wellbeing.
The plaintiff contends that the intial surgery was described as being a simple cosmetic surgery. However, after undergoing the initial surgery the doctor, who is named as the defendant in the lawsuit, performed an additional eight surgeries on the plaintiffs nose over the course of about a year. The plaintiff then left the country for roughly three years. Upon his return to the U.S., the defendant performed an additiional 13 corrective cosmetic surgeries on his nose.
Still unsatisfied with the results and experiencing problems, the man sought the opinion of another doctor who revealed that the doctor who performed the surgeries used improper techniques and materials. According to the lawsuit, as a direct result of the defendant's gross negligence, the man suffered a massive infection which eventually resulted in the need for his entire nose to be amputated.
Severely disfigured and physically and emotionally injured, the man recently filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the defendant. In addition to accusations related to negligence and incompetence, the plaintiff also accuses the defendant of waging a personal vendetta against him in an attempt to protect his personal interests and avoid losing his medical license.
The plaintiff is seeking to recover punitive damages related to medical malpractice, emotional distress, disfigurement and fraud.
Source: Courthouse News Service, "Noseless Man Calls Doc Horrible and Abusive," Cameron Langford, June 6, 2013