Medical Board penalizes doctor for botched cosmetic surgeries

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | 11:04 a.m.

The state Board of Medical Examiners fined a Las Vegas physician $4,500 and placed his medical license on probation for malpractice in botching two breast enlargement surgeries and a face lift.

The board issued a public reprimand to Dr. Sean Phong-Quoc Su, who was also found guilty of failing to keep adequate records and in trying to deceive a board investigator.

The board has barred Dr. Su from "performing any medical or surgical procedures that are of a cosmetic or plastic surgical nature for 18 months." The board must also have full access to his records.

Su must pay $25,120 to the board to cover the cost of its investigation.

In April 2009, Su performed breast implant surgery on a 29-year-old woman in his office at the Skin Body Institute. The medical board said he failed to perform the procedure safely or competently and used improper and excessive suture materials, which increased the potential for infection.

The woman ended up at Sunrise Hospital, where the damage was repaired.

The second patient was a 25-year-old woman who suffered complications after a breast augmentation. The board said the surgery was not conducted safely or competently and the woman suffered from chronic inflammation and scar tissue.

The third patient was a 64-year-old woman who wanted cosmetic surgery. But the board said Dr. Su did not perform the eyelid enhancement procedure correctly. There was permanent damage to the tissues, permanent redness and discoloration around both of the woman's eyes.

All of the surgeries were performed in his office, which was an unlicensed surgical center.

In another case, the board fined Dr. Kenneth Westfield of Las Vegas $2,000 for malpractice in the treatment of a 59-year-old man for eye problems. The man underwent eye surgery and had continued treatment by Westfield.

After the treatment, the patient continued to complain of foggy vision in his left eye even with corrections.

Westfield was also ordered to pay $1,644 in costs.

The board fined Dr. Timothy Hamilton of Henderson $1,000 and ordered him to pay $1,100 in costs. Dr. Hamilton was disciplined in Texas for a medical violation and Nevada law says an infraction in another state is grounds for disciplinary action in Nevada.

Dr. Muzaffar Kirmani of Las Vegas was issued a public reprimand and required to complete 10 hours of training on medical record keeping. He treated a patient in 2004 and 2005 and failed to keep the adequate records. He was also ordered to pay $4,364 in costs to reimburse the board for its investigation.