McCreevy backed disgraced plastic surgeon plan

FORMER Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy had supported a project to bring disgraced New York plastic surgeon Dr Michael Sachs to Ireland.

The surgeon is under investigation in the US following the death last month of Limerick mother-of-two Kay Cregan.

She had met him in Kildare last year after Mr McCreevy had brought the surgeon on a visit to Punchestown race centre. She died on March 19, two days after Dr Sachs had performed a nose operation and a facelift procedure.

Mr McCreevy backed plans by a charitable group, two years ago, to have Dr Sachs carry out free operations for severely disfigured children. At the time, Dr Sachs was banned by the US authorities from conducting complicated operations.

The current EU Commissioner in charge of the Internal Market and Services had made representations, on behalf of Dr Sachs, to his former cabinet colleague, then Health Minister Micheál Martin. The letter to Mr Martin was obtained by RTE’s Prime Time investigation team.

However, two Irish consultant plastic surgeons, David Orr from Temple Street Children’s Hospital and Michael Earley, attached to Our Lady’s in Crumlin, were alarmed by Mr McCreevy’s proposal in 2003. “We find this suggestion rather baffling. The minister and various officials appear to be unaware that the Irish health service does in fact provide reconstructive plastic surgery. There is a comprehensive treatment programme available to severely disfigured children provided by a multi-disciplinary team which operates between Crumlin, Temple Street and St James’ Hospital.”

Dr Earley said last night that, at the time, Dr Sachs’ name was not familiar to himself or Dr Orr as an expert in paediatric surgery.

The Dublin consultants, in a letter to the chief executive of Crumlin Children’s Hospital, said they were pleased that the then Finance Minister had taken such a personal interest in the treatment of children with facial disfigurement. However, they added: “We might suggest that the most helpful intervention that he could make would be to ensure that the basic infrastructure is maintained and developed in Ireland’s two main children’s hospitals and that the cutbacks in health spending do not result in loss of vital personnel from our multi-disciplinary teams.”