Plastic surgeon has NY’s worst malpractice record

THE Limerick woman who died after €25,000 plastic surgery in the US was operated on by a surgeon with the worst malpractice records in New York.

Kay Cregan, 42, from Croom, went into cardiac arrest in the recovery room of Dr Michael Sachs's clinic in New York on March 14 and died in St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital on St Patrick's Day.

The mother of two young boys had agreed to pay Dr Sachs $32,000 (€24,694) for a nose job and face-lift.

Dr Sachs has made 34 malpractice payments during the past decade more than any other doctor in New York and is banned from doing certain surgical procedures.

Only seven US doctors have made more malpractice payments; and four of these have been struck off.

Ms Cregan's sister, Agnes Kelly, said on learning of Dr Sachs' record: "This is all so horrible. We're seeing all this stuff on him and it's just killing us."

Dr Sachs, a self-styled 'internationally renowned' nasal surgeon, has been permanently banned from doing complicated nose surgery without another surgeon present, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

The New York Health Department put Dr Sachs's medical licence on probation for three years and required him to take refresher courses. His lawyer, Jay Butterman, said this did not prohibit him from doing the type of surgery he carried out on Ms Cregan.

Dr Sachs can perform simple nose jobs unsupervised, according to New York medical sources.

Former patient Rachelle Adler, who sued him, said: "What does he have to do, for the state to keep him from hurting more people?" Mrs Cregan contacted Dr Sachs by email after reading about him in an Irish newspaper.

Without telling her family, she went to New York for the nose job and facelift. In the email she told Dr Sachs: "I believe when you meet me that you will think me suitable for that procedure.

"I am 42 years old but look 56-58 approx. I have become very self-conscious when meeting people and I am becoming more and more anti-social by the day."

After the surgery, Ms Cregan, who worked in the Rates Department of Limerick City Council, was to spend a two-week recovery period in New York as part of the fee. She is survived by her husband, Liam, a farmer and plumber, and sons, Brian, eight, and Eoghan, six.

Mr Butterman said the doctor did not cause Mrs Cregan's death.

"Dr Sachs and his family send the deepest sympathies to the family. This is a terrible tragedy, but it is one which is simply not attributable to anything Dr Sachs or his staff did."

The Irish Medical Council expressed concern about the lack of regulations governing the establishment and operation of cosmetic surgery clinics in Ireland.

The council said it would be in contact with the Department of Health in connection with the issue, and urged concerned individuals to contact the Irish Association of Plastic Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons.