Guilty Plastic Surgeon: Used One Patient's Photos to Evaluate Liposuction

A Montreal plastic surgeon has pleaded guilty to assessing a patient's condition in photos rather than in person in preparation for liposuction and not telling her about possible options other than surgery.

Dr^s Daniel Saragia Guberman pleaded guilty to four counts of the crimes before the College of Physicians of Quebec (CMQ) this morning.

On November 4, 2019, the specialist doctor performed liposuction on a patient, whose identity has been preserved, at the Clinique Médico Esthétique du Vieux-Longueuil. However, it was only on the morning of the surgery, which was performed in private, that he met the woman and made the diagnosis.

Photo reviews

The latter, who was “very thin” according to the summary of facts presented in evidence, had been evaluated two months earlier in the clinic, but by a nurse. According to Dr.'s lawyer^s Guberman, this way of doing things was required by the clinic's management.

“I took photographs of the patient and sent them to the doctor to take a position on the indication of the intervention to be undergone,” summed up CMQ Secretary’s lawyer, Alex Vandal-Millet.

However, doctors are required to meet the patient before performing the evaluation.

“This way of doing things is very different from my usual aesthetic practice, as I always personally conduct the first consultation visits with patients,” the doctor wrote.^s Guberman's summary of facts. I regret and find it difficult to explain why I did not insist on the first consultation […] “As I used to do.”

Moreover, the doctor's lawyer, M^H Melanie Poisson added that the clinic “still operates in the same way.” The doctor stopped working there in 2021 due to a “difference in approach.”

The specialist also pleaded guilty because, on the day of surgery, he did not offer the patient options other than liposuction.

“She believes the only treatment option available to her is that this was not the case,” Mr Vandal-Millet continued.

Moreover, the patient was dissatisfied with the procedure and returned to see the doctor for corrections, we read in the summary of facts. I had more fat removed at another clinic where Dr. practiced^s Guberman, a month later. A year later, she still wasn't satisfied.

Invoice without details

In addition, CMQ criticizes the doctor for submitting an invoice that includes only the total amount of the intervention, but no details about the various procedures.

“The defendant deprives the patient of making an informed decision about the charges,” El-Sayed said.^H Vandal Millet.

Both sides recommended a 10-week sentence.

Practically since 2010, Dr^s Guberman had no disciplinary history. He works in private practice in Westmount and at Jean Talon Hospital. The Disciplinary Council must make its decision within three months.