Doctor banned after facelift leaves patient ‘bleeding too much’

A Brisbane-based doctor has been deregistered after a patient seeking treatment for acne scars left the clinic in an ambulance with uncontrolled bleeding from a damaged artery.

The patient had consulted Dr Shahram Sadeghi – who owned and operated Elinay Cosmetic Surgery in Grange at the time – on May 1, 2019, and was recommended a facelift for acne scarring in that session.

The man took three weeks to fully recover after spending two days in hospital, and recalled falling in and out of consciousness during the procedure, at one point hearing the assisting nurse say “he’s bleeding too much” and “this isn’t right”, a ruling from a Queensland tribunal stated.

Shahram Sadeghi was practising from Elinay Cosmetic Clinics, in Brisbane, when he performed a facelift surgery that left the patient needing emergency hospital treatment.

According to the court ruling published on Thursday, the patient said Sadeghi had reassured him he was qualified while recommending the treatment.

“Dr Sadeghi told me briefly that he had completed further training in order to become a cosmetic surgeon, but he didn’t provide me with any specifics about this,” the patient said.

“[He] said that cosmetic surgeons such as himself were just as competent, if not more competent, than a plastic surgeon when performing a facelift and that it was a bit of a ‘battleground’ between the two professions.”

The patient told the tribunal Sadeghi had visited him in hospital after the surgery, affirming he had “done everything by the book” and mentioning the waiver the patient had signed before undergoing treatment.

Six weeks after the patient had recovered, he consulted Sadeghi again to try to “restore balance” to his face, after which Sadeghi offered free filler injections, which the patient accepted, according to the ruling.

The Medical Board of Australia opened an investigation following the 2019 incident, alongside five other patients on whom Sadeghi had performed facelifts.

The court found Sadeghi did not have the proper training, facilities or licensing – despite advertising on Elinay’s website claiming the opposite – before attempting the procedures.

Advertising on the Elinay website from 2020 that outlined some qualifications the Medical Board said Shahram Sadeghi did not have.

Elinay Clinics told this masthead Sadeghi was no longer affiliated with the practice.

The ruling said Sadeghi had “neither the training nor the experience necessary to perform that procedure” as he had never previously performed it and only “assisted” another surgeon with a facelift seven years prior.

It also found misconduct during the 2019 surgery, including there not being enough trained staff during the operation.

Sadeghi had also incorrectly recorded the dose of medication he had given the patient, which complicated the handover procedure when he was rushed to hospital.

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal judicial member Peter Murphy said Sadeghi’s actions constituted professional misconduct, and ruled to deregister and reprimand Sadeghi, but did not demand a fine.

“Cancellation of Dr Sadeghi’s registration is the proper sanction in addition to a reprimand as it sends the clearest possible deterrent signal to other medical practitioners about the dangers and inappropriateness of acting beyond their training and experience,” the tribunal said.

Medical Board of Australia chair Dr Susan O’Dwyer agreed.

“We need to be honest with our patients about our limits and refer patients to specialists when they need care we are not trained to provide safely,” she said.

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