Effective March 3rd, 2022, Dr. Christoper J. Kovanda’s medical license is temporarily suspended, according to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.
Kovanda is a board-certified plastic surgeon who operates out of the Lakeside Center on Excelsior Blvd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The StarTribune reported Friday that since 2008, six women have accused the Twin Cities plastic surgeon of sexual misconduct, via complaints or lawsuits. His attorney told the Tribune the allegations are “without merit” and that they “look forward to vigorously defending the matter.”
The board’s letter of suspension notes that the nature of Kovanda’s misconduct includes “engaging in conduct with a patient which is sexual or may reasonably be interpreted by the patient as sexual, or in any verbal behavior which is seductive of sexually demeaning to a patient.”
The hearing that led to Kovanda’s first-ever license suspension began in July of last year, though allegations of sexual misconduct involving the doctor date back to January 2008.
Three of the early allegations against Kovanda serve as a “highlighted case” in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s State Report Card on “Doctors & Sex Abuse” in Minnesota.