Doctor gets license suspended for using Botox off-label and patients reporting life-threatening side effects.
Muhammad Mirza, MD, an internist from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, filed a lawsuit against the review site Yelp over bad reviews. Then he had his medical license suspended for allegedly offering botched procedures and causing patient harm. The New Jersey board pulled his license after it accused the doctor of using “dermal fillers for off-label purposes including non-surgical penile and breast enhancement procedures,” according to a complaint filed to the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners by the state’s Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
One patient “required hospitalization and needed two emergency surgeries,” according to the DCA press release, after he was given filler for penile enhancement, The release states further, “When consulted by an emergency room physician regarding his treatment of the patient, Mirza allegedly failed to accurately disclose the exact filler he injected into the patient’s penis, further complicating the patient’s post-procedure emergency care.”
Mirza faced a number of complaints beginning this past spring, including the internist didn’t wear any COVID-19 PPE or general safety wear in medical settings, including a mask or gloves, and that he used “high pressure sales tactics,” making patients feel as if they had to move forward to add onto their original treatment plan. Some patients said they experienced physical aftereffects, including lumps and even seizures, and the doctor failed to respond to these complaints.
DCA investigators discovered, during an investigation, that Mirza’s office in Summit, New Jersey, had just “one large room with a curtain used as a divider between the waiting area and the patient treatment area. The treatment area had only chairs and a folding table. There was no medical examination table, nor were there any medical-grade storage.” Instead, Mirza kept his “supply of fillers in duffel bags,” according to the report.
DCA’s complaint also alleged that Mirza used “injectable dermal fillers off-label for aesthetic procedures close to patients’ eyes, which, if done incorrectly, could lead to vision loss or permanent blindness.” He used “fillers off-label for breast enhancement, which could obfuscate mammogram results, and he didn’t perform skin allergy testing before injecting fillers,” the report contends.
“Patients who seek cosmetic procedures are entitled to safe and appropriate care by properly trained professionals who put their health and safety above all else,” Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew Bruck said. “We will not allow doctors to take advantage of patients’ desires to look and feel better about themselves by subjecting them to medically inappropriate procedures that expose them to grave harm and permanent disfigurement.”
Mirza has denied the allegations against him, and simply agreed to a temporary suspension of his license until the case can be heard by an administrative law judge. The board could take further action at that time, depending on the results of the hearing.
The Yelp Mirza litigation required two reviewers to remove their posts.
“Social media has been extremely weaponized to the point that it’s not serving the interest of society, and someone has to take charge,” Mirza said at the time. “These platforms need to be regulated in the same way we regulate other industries. Reviewers can’t just hide behind the screen.”
Sources:
Botox Doc’s License Suspended Over Breast, Penis Enhancement Harms
N.J. suspends license of doctor accused of improper breast, penis enhancements
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