The Truth Behind Plastic Surgery

Los Angeles - There is so much to know if you're planning to get plastic surgery.

Is your surgeon board certified? Do you know who's delivering the anesthesia? What happens if something goes wrong?

Asking the right questions could be the difference between life or death.

Story Script:

DOCTOR JOEL ARONOWITZ IS AN EXPERT ON BOTCHED PLASTIC SURGERIES. HE'S A BOARD-CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON WHO SPECIALIZES IN RECONSTRUCTIVE OPERATIONS.

Dr. Joel Aronowitz
"As a doctor... as a plastic surgeon... I think, 'What was the plastic surgeon thinking?' A significant part of my practice is dealing with plastic surgery complications, what I call plastic surgery misadventures, the wrong operation, on the wrong patient for the wrong indication.

THESE WOMEN TURNED TO ARONOWITZ WHEN MEDICAL MISHAPS LEFT THEM AT THEIR WIT'S END.

Pamela Rudoy
"It was terrible."

THIS YOUNG WOMAN, PAMELA RUDOY, WAS BORN WELL-ENDOWED. A BREAST REDUCTION SURGERY LEFT HER WITH DROOPY-LOOKING BREASTS. SHE BOOKED A SURGERY WITH ANOTHER DOCTOR TO FIX THEM, BUT SHE WAS CRUSHED WHEN SHE LOOKED IN THE MIRROR.

Pamela Rudoy
"It left my nipples really really high, and my breasts were down here.... It was bad, I didn't want to go out, beause I couldn't find a bra, or one of my dresses going out, my nipple would hang out."

AFTER A YEAR OF EMBARRASSMENT, THAT DOCTOR TOLD HER THEY COULD NOT BE FIXED. SO, SHE GOT A SECOND OPINION FROM DR. ARONOWITZ.

Pamela Rudoy
"The other doctor was like, there's nothing that can be done, and doctor Aronowitz fixed me in a second.... Everything that this other doctor said, 'No I cant do.' He did, plus more, I feel like a women again."

ANOTHER PATIENT'S ONLY FLAW WAS BUYING THE UPSELL.

Patient
"I only came in for botox."

BUT SHE WAS SOLD A FACELIFT AND A TUMMY TUCK. WHEN HER STOMACH BEGAN FILLING UP WITH FLUID, HER DOCTOR TOLD HER HE'D DO ANOTHER SURGERY.

Patient
"I said, no, I don't think so, you're not gonna be the one to do it."

SHE NOW SHOWS OFF HER FLATTENED STOMACH.

Patient
"My stomach healed so beautifully."

SHE SAYS THE GREATEST LESSON SHE LEARNED...

Patient
"The fist thing: you have to check, confirm, verify, is that the doctor is board certified."

Dr. Aronowitz
"There's probably ten, non plastic surgeons practicing plastic surgery procedures for every board certified plastic surgeon in this part of the country."

THE CERTIFICATION THAT CONSUMERS NEED TO LOOK FOR IS FROM THE AMERICAN BOARD OF PLASTIC SURGERY. ONLY 6,600 PLASTIC SURGEONS IN THE COUNTRY HAVE THIS CERTIFICATION.

Dr. Aronowitz
"It's not an easy process, and the vast majority of people fall off at some point."

AS MORE AND MORE YOUNG PEOPLE GET PLASTIC SURGERY, SOME DON'T CHECK THEIR SURGEON'S CREDENTIALS... AND THE RESULTS CAN BE TRAGIC.

A 22-YEAR-OLD WOMAN DIED AFTER RECEIVING SILICONE BUTT INJECTIONS IN A HOTEL ROOM. POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR A WOMAN WHO THEY ALLEGE IN A SEARCH WARRANT OF GIVING THE INJECTIONS. SHE'S A TRANSGENDER HIP-HOP SINGER WHO GOES UNDER THE NAME "THE BLACK MADAM."

A FLORIDA CHEERLEADER WENT TO A BOARD-CERTIFIED DOCTOR, BUT THE TEEN DIED FROM ANESTHESIA COMPLICATIONS JUST HOURS AFTER SURGERY TO CORRECT ASYMMETRICAL BREASTS.

ATTORNEY BRUCE FAGEL, WHO IS ALSO A PHYSICAN, SAYS PATIENTS NEED TO ASK ABOUT WHO IS ADMINISTERING THE ANESTHESIA AND WHO WILL BE DOING THE AFTERCARE.

Bruce Fagel
"Many of these procedures are done in facilities that are little more than a doctor's office and are totally unregulated. They will use certified nurse anesthesists, who've replaced a lot of anesthesoligoists.... They're not as capable of handling something that goes wrong as an anesthesiologist."

HE SAYS SOME OF THE SHARPEST COST-CUTTING HAS OCCURED IN POST-OP CARE.

Bruce Fagel
"When you have plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery in a doctor's office, the aftercare is much less...That's why hospitals are more expensive."

LUCILLE IACOVELLI COULDN'T AFFORD ANY MORE SURGERIES. HER FRIEND, RICH BERGERON, WHO'S WRITING A BOOK ABOUT HER ORDEAL, SAYS SHE'D BECOME FEARFUL OF DOCTORS.

Rich Bergeron
"She just did not trust the establishment to help her, to be able to provide that care, she was just deathly afraid of what else could happen, could it get worse?"

LUCILLE'S POETRY REFLECTED HER DESPAIR. SIX MONTHS AGO, AFTER STRUGGLING WITH HER SURGERY COMPLICATIONS FOR NEARLY A DECADE, LUCILLE COMMITTED SUICIDE.

Rich Bergeron
"She was just such a beautiful woman."

THAT'S THE IRONY. AFTER BOTCHED PLASTIC SURGERY, MANY WOMEN TELL US THEY WISH THEY WOULD HAVE REALIZED THEIR WERE BEAUTIFUL JUST AS THEY WERE.

More information:

Dr. Joel Aronowitz:
aronowitzmd.com
310-659-0705

Attorney Bruce Fagel:
fagellaw.com
310-281-8700

Writer Rich Bergeron:
617- 209-4325
rich.bergeron@gmail.com