Alert Number: I-101723-PSAOctober 17, 2023 The FBI is warning the public about cybercriminals who target plastic surgery offices, surgeons thereof, and patients to harvest personally identifiable information and sensitive medical records, to include sensitive photographs in some instances. Once successful, cybercriminals use social engineering techniques to enhance the harvested data and extort individuals for cryptocurrency. THE SCAM Phase 1 – Data Harvesting Using technology to disguise their phone numbers and email addresses (“spoof”), cybercriminals use phishing to deploy malware to plastic surgery offices. Once successful, cybercriminals harvest electronically protected health information (ePHI), which includes sensitive information and photographs. Phase 2…
Author: Press Release
British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons — 30 Sep 2023 15:21: Hyaluronic acid – the key compound in most fillers – has been found to block lymphatic channels, which help the body drain fluid and are a key part of the immune system that helps to fight disease. Research is now being planned to see if the treatment affects the risk of diseases including cancer. Fillers have also been linked to cysts, lumps, swelling and facial pain. A US research team unveiled the findings during the Annual Scientific conference of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in London which brings…
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California — Thursday, September 28, 2023: LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury has charged a doctor who operated clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove with defrauding a COVID-19 program for uninsured patients by submitting more than a quarter billion dollars in claims – ultimately receiving about $150 million in payments – for services not covered under the program or simply not provided, the Justice Department announced today. Anthony Hao Dinh, 64, of Newport Coast – a licensed doctor of osteopathy who was an ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as a facial plastic surgeon…
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL – The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the world’s largest plastic surgery organization, representing 92 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States, today released the 2022 results of the organization’s procedural research, along with partners, CosmetAssure and PatientNow. According to this data, there were 26.2 million surgical and minimally invasive cosmetic and reconstructive procedures performed in the United States in 2022. More specifically, there has been a 19% increase in cosmetic surgery procedures since 2019. “This year’s study supports the larger trend of the public’s growing desire to look and feel better in their own skin,” said…
PLANO, Texas, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A newly formed subsidiary of Bimini Health Tech (“Bimini”) acquired substantially all of the assets of Ideal Implant, Inc., including intellectual property, regulatory approvals, product inventory, and certain manufacturing capacity. Accordingly, the Bimini Health Tech portfolio now includes a breast implant, an Acellular Dermal Matrix (ADM), the Puregraft fat transfer technology, and the Healeon PRP family of products. “The Ideal Implant technology is unmatched in its safety and technological sophistication and possesses one of the few U.S. FDA Class III Regulatory Approvals for breast implants. Bimini will re-position the technology for the hospital setting, which…
GARDEN GROVE, Calif., Aug. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Aesthetic Society, the leading authority on aesthetic plastic surgery, has released its annual Aesthetic Plastic Surgery National Databank report for 2022, highlighting significant trends in the field of aesthetic plastic surgery. The data showcases a remarkable 14% increase in total aesthetic procedures, largely attributed to the soaring popularity of nonsurgical procedures, which witnessed a 23% jump last year. In an unprecedented milestone, the 2022 data was sourced from the same 200 plastic surgery practices across the United States, providing consistent quarterly data between 2019 and 2022. “The landscape of aesthetic plastic surgery is undergoing a…
SEATTLE – August 4, 2023 – Bergman Oslund Udo Little (BOUL), a Pacific Northwest law firm with a focus on catastrophic injury cases, secured a $13 million verdict against Dr. Kristine Brecht and Aesthetic Rejuvenation & Spa on behalf of their clients, a former patient and her husband. Dr. Brecht, whose license has been suspended by the Washington Medical Commission, performed numerous cosmetic surgeries without screening the patient, who was a poor candidate and suffered devasting injuries. In a lawsuit filed on July 11, 2022, in the Superior Court of Washington, the patient accused Dr. Brecht and Aesthetic Rejuvenation & Spa…
MIAMI, July 20, 2023 /PR Newswire/ — Florida’s House and Senate recently passed the state’s first plastic surgery bill, HB 1471, which mandates the use of ultrasound guidance during gluteal fat grafting procedures to protect patient safety. This bill was sent to the governor’s office who signed it into law. As of July 1, 2023, Florida physicians who perform gluteal fat grafting must use ultrasound guidance to clearly see that fat is injected only in the subcutaneous space and never into the muscle. When fat grafts have inadvertently been injected into the gluteal muscle, the fat has traveled to the heart, lungs, and brain…
California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a settlement with a Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon accused of defrauding California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Dr. Joel Aronowitz allegedly overbilled Medi-Cal for skin grafts and skin wound treatments over a six-year period, resulting in an estimated $248,809 in damages to California taxpayer funds. He will pay double that amount — $497,619 — to the state to resolve the allegations against him. “The Medi-Cal system is a lifeline that provides access to free or affordable healthcare services for millions of Californians,” said Attorney General Bonta. “When bad actors abuse…
A plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California, along with his son, medical practices, and billing company, have agreed to pay $23.9 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting or causing the submission of false claims to both Medicare and Medicaid. The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Dr. Joel Aronowitz; Daniel Aronowitz; Joel A. Aronowitz, M.D., a medical corporation; Tower Multi-Specialty Medical Group; Tower Wound Care Center of Santa Monica, Inc.; Tower Outpatient Surgery Center, Inc.; and Tower Medical Billing Solutions (the settling parties) falsified the place of service for skin grafts and billed…
GARDEN GROVE, Calif., April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) announced the election of Caroline Glicksman, MD, MSJ, a plastic surgeon practicing in Sea Girt, NJ as its new President. Dr. Glicksman is an aesthetic plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. ASERF is the philanthropic research and education arm of The Aesthetic Society. As President, Dr. Glicksman plans to lead ASERF in its pursuit to advance aesthetic surgery through research and deploying emerging technologies such as SETA, the only optimized software platform for aesthetic medicine research. “I am honored to lead ASERF in the year ahead because I…
GARDEN GROVE, Calif., April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Aesthetic Society announced the election of Melinda Haws, MD a plastic surgeon practicing in Nashville, TN as the new President of the 2,600 Active Member organization dedicated to aesthetic plastic surgery. Dr. Haws’ leadership team will focus on advancing The Aesthetic Society’s technology strategy and expanding membership and positioning the society for the future. “I am thrilled to serve as President of this well-loved organization with a long history of dedicated membership and partners,” says Dr. Haws. “My goal in leading The Aesthetic Society is to build on the achievements of…
(Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) — It is anticipated that a new ‘endorsement’ training model will shortly be introduced into Australia by Ahpra and the federal Department of Health, creating a dangerous system where the benchmark in skills and capabilities required to perform cosmetic surgery will be lower than that required for other forms of surgery.This has alarmed the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), as well as surgical specialty societies, including the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Society, General Surgeons Australia, Breast Surgeons of Australia…
(Office of the Attorney General, New Jersey) — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that the State Board of Medical Examiners has temporarily suspended Dr. Peter V. Driscoll’s medical license over allegations of solicitation of and engagement in sexual contact with a patient as well as other forms of misconduct. Driscoll is a plastic surgeon who practiced at My Goals Solutions (“Goals”) surgical center in Ridgefield, NJ, from August 2021 until June 2022. He is accused of engaging in sexual contact with one patient while performing surgery on her. Other allegations included watching pornography prior to surgeries and leaving…
(Business Wire; Feb. 7. 2023) — Athenix, one of the leading plastic surgery practices in the U.S., has acquired Marina Plastic Surgery and MedSpa, a world renowned cosmetic surgery center and medspa located in Marina Del Rey, California. Representing the first of a line of future strategic acquisitions, Athenix founder and CEO James Haefner identified Marina Plastic Surgery early on as the ideal inaugural partner in their rapid expansion plan. His decision was in large part due to Dr. Grant Stevens, M.D., F.A.C.S, Marina Plastic Surgery Founder, widely known as one of the world’s most prominent and sought after plastic surgeons. “Our shared values,…
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City, Utah returned an indictment on January 11, 2023 charging a Utah plastic surgeon, his medical corporation, and three co-defendants, including his neighbor, with conspiracy to defraud the United States by issuing fake CDC COVID-19 vaccination record cards to fraudulent vaccine card seekers. According to court documents, Dr. Michael Kirk Moore Jr., 58, of Salt Lake County, Utah and his co-defendants, listed below including his neighbor, ran a scheme out of Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc. to defraud the United States and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The defendants…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec 29 2022 Olympia, Washington — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today filed a federal lawsuit against Allure Esthetic, a major plastic surgery provider in Seattle, and its owner, Dr. Javad Sajan, for falsely and illegally inflating its ratings on online rating platforms such as Yelp and Google. The company intimidated patients into removing negative reviews, and ordered its employees to post fake positive reviews. Ferguson’s lawsuit asserts Allure and its owner broke the law in numerous ways, including by: Ferguson filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. “Threatening and bribing customers…
(Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) — The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) has continually raised this issue in meetings with the federal and state and territory governments, as well as in written communication, submissions and through the media. The Australian Medical Council (AMC) accredited training programs for the various surgery subspecialty fields, as well as ophthalmology and obstetrics and gynaecology are five or six years at a minimum, on top of a primary medical degree. In September, RACS met with the Commonwealth Minister for Health & Aged Care to discuss restricting the title surgeon, as well as other issues…
London, England, 8 October 2022—(British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) In 2018 the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (www.baaps.org.uk) dissuaded all its members from performing Brazilian Buttock Lift (BBL) surgery, until more data could be collated. The decision was taken due to the high death rate associated with the procedure. Now, following an extensive four-year review of clinical data, new technology and techniques, BAAPS has published its Gluteal Fat Grafting (GFG) guidelines. Gluteal fat grafting is currently the procedure with the biggest growth rate in plastic surgery worldwide, with an increase of around 20% year-on-year (2)(3). It has become…
On 8 September 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety communication informing patients and providers about reports of squamous cell carcinoma and various lymphomas located in the capsule or scar tissue around breast implants. The risk of squamous cell carcinoma and other lymphomas occurring in the tissue around breast implants appears to be extremely rare. These emerging reports of cancers in scar tissue and capsule are different from Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). More information on BIA-ALCL can be found on the TGA Breast Implant Hub. At this time, there is not enough information to…
Source: Renuvion (PRNewswire / Clearwater, Fla.) — Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: APYX) (the “Company”), the manufacturer of a proprietary helium plasma and radiofrequency technology marketed and sold as Renuvion®, today announced the release of a new surgeon testimonial video featuring its Renuvion Helium Plasma Technology. Leading plastic surgeons across the country are sharing the transformative results they’ve achieved using Renuvion, a proprietary helium plasma and radiofrequency technology, on patients for cosmetic procedures in their practices. In a video featuring celebrity plastic surgeon and co-host of the hit television series, ‘Botched’ Dr. Paul Nassif, New York City facial surgeon Dr. Tabasum…
For Immediate Release: September 08, 2022 Statement From: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety communication informing patients and providers about reports of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and various lymphomas located in the capsule or scar tissue around breast implants. After an initial extensive review, we currently believe that the risk of SCC and other lymphomas occurring in the tissue around breast implants is rare. However, in this case, and when safety risks with medical devices are identified, we wanted to provide clear and understandable information to the public as quickly as possible. In some reported cases, patients were…
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, September 7, 2022 — (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa) Dr. Ronald Bergman and his medical practice, Bergman Cosmetic Surgery, P.C., of Des Moines, Iowa, have agreed to pay $800,000 to the United States and the State of Iowa to resolve allegations that Bergman wrongfully billed Medicare and Medicaid for services rendered by others and billed Medicare for medically unnecessary and unreasonable applications of skin substitute products. Specifically, the government alleged that from 2013 to 2020, Bergman submitted inappropriate claims for payment to government healthcare programs in three ways. First, the government alleged that Bergman submitted…
APPROVED CLAIMANTS MUST PROVIDE CURRENT ADDRESS TO RECEIVE PAYMENT DOW CORNING BREAST IMPLANT SETTLEMENT SEEKS TO DISTRIBUTE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN UNPAID AWARDS TO 13,000 WOMEN Houston, Texas, July 29, 2022–(Claimants’ Advisory Committee) Women who had Dow Corning breast implants (and their heirs if the claimant is deceased) and who were approved for either a Rupture and/or Disease claim are eligible to receive a final “Premium Payment” from the bankruptcy settlement. Women are urged to contact the claims office by the deadline of September 17th, 2022. Call Toll Free: 866 874 6099 or email at info@sfdct.com to check eligibility. Names of claimants…
February 27, 2023 – UPDATE: On February 23, 2023, the FDA cleared the Renuvion APR Handpiece for the delivery of radiofrequency energy and/or helium plasma where coagulation/contraction of soft tissue is needed. Soft tissue includes subcutaneous tissue.The FDA recommendations provided below have not changed. The FDA will keep the public informed if significant new information becomes available. Date Issued: July 21, 2022 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is providing another update on the Renuvion/J-Plasma device system by Apyx Medical about use of the device for certain aesthetic skin procedures. Today, we are informing consumers and health care providers about a Renuvion/J-Plasma…