By Ellen Cans
A Manhattan plastic surgeon must face a lawsuit for allegedly botching a nose job to correct a breathing problem and forging documents after, a judge ruled.
Arevik Khurdayan, a 34-year lawyer had gone to have a procedure done in February 2016 with Dr. Ramtin Kassir. As reported by the NY Post, she wanted to fix a breathing problem because of a deviated septum. A 2017 Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit alleges that the Dr.’s office, which specializes in both plastic surgery and procedures for snoring and sinus problems, convinced her to simultaneously have a cosmetic nose job, with a promise that her breathing problem would be fixed as well, with a dual procedure called a septorhinoplasty. Khurdayan says that the doctor performed the cosmetic work, but did not fix her breathing problem.
As per the suit, following the nose job her problems got worse and she ended up needed more procedures by a different doctor to finally fix the deviated septum, polyps and blockages in her nose. The court papers further allege that after Khurdayan finally wrestled her records from the doctor, she noted that the office had forged her signatures and initials on several consent forms. She also claims that her medical records were missing basic information about her being intubated and unconscious for the procedure, as per the court papers. “Shockingly, the records provided include multiple consent forms that include signatures and initials that not only look nothing like Ms. Khurdayan’s signature or initials, but are identical to that of a nurse who signed other forms,” Khurdayan alleged in court papers dated January 2019.
Dr. Kassir, a well-known Triple board certified surgeon, gained acclaim for serving celebrities including giving ‘Snooki’ from MTV reality show “Jersey Shore” lip injections, and doing work on “Real Housewives of New Jersey’s” Jacqueline Laurita’s nose. Dr. Kassir has maintained that the forms were a function of a “glitch” in their system which “inadvertently populated consent forms with the plaintiff’s signature from another document into various medical provider signature fields on blank pre-operative records,” as per court documents.
Last week, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden rejected the doctor’s request to have the lawsuit immediately dismissed, and said the case could move forward on claims of breach of contract, medical malpractice, lack of informed consent and forgery. “The defendants continue to maintain that the plaintiff’s allegations are baseless and will continue to defend the remaining claims on the merits, whether through future motion practice at the conclusion of discovery or at trial,” said Kassir’s lawyer, Lawrence Rosenblatt.