Nov 21, 2005 1:17 am US/Pacific
Plastic Disaster
by Kurtis Ming
SACRAMENTO (CBS 13) ―
You trust your lives with them, but should you?
How do you know if you can really trust your doctor? Several patients of one plastic surgeon did, but they didn't know that he had a criminal past, and battled personal addictions.
Our investigation started two months ago after we got an e-mail from a viewer--a patient of this one doctor.
The deeper we moved into the story, the more we discovered patient after patient all with similar stories.
Some went to him with a desire for beauty.
"He really wanted me to look better," said "Bobbie", a patient
Others went to the doctor to their bodies back together.
"The discovery of my cancer was something that was unexpected," said Linda Starr, patient.
None of these plastic surgery patients expected the horror.
"It looked like somebody cut me with a machete," said "Marion", a patient.
They had no idea there doctor was troubled.
"He was leading the life of an alcoholic, he's a self admitted alcoholic," said Mara Faust, state prosecutor.
"I don't want him to touch anyone else again and hurt anyone like he did my wife," said Ken Mikulecky, a patient's husband.
In 1997 cancer came as a surprise to Linda Starr. The same day her right breast was removed plastic surgeon Dr. Brian West performed the reconstruction. It was an operation, she was told, had a low risk for infection--less than a one percent chance. The recovery time was expected to be three weeks then she'd go in for cancer treatment.
"I was told it was very important I had Chemo and radiation," said Linda.
Weeks after her operation, instead of a healed wound, she was infected. Her incision turned green, purple and black.
Without anesthesia and without warning she says Dr. West took a scalpel to her sewed up incision and cut her open.
"You're coming apart. You're seeing parts of your body, you're not meant to see," said Linda.
She was left to heal but the infection kept growing, tunneling through her body into her new breast, and deep across her stomach.
Then, instead of diagnosing the type of infection she says Dr. West turned hostile.
"He didn't want to deal with it, he would be very harsh when he would pull the sutures out," said Linda.
This went on for 5-months. Linda's gaping wounds expanded to leave this massive hole in her stomach and breast. She says her decaying flesh and tissue made her house smell like death.
"I could smell it on the bandages. It smelt awful," said Linda.
(Continued)
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