‘Botched liposuction surgery by Dr Lanzer ruined my life’

Kathy Hubble was recently divorced and want to boost her self-esteem with liposuction – but it was the start of a complete nightmare. Warning: Graphic.

When Kathy Hubble turned up at her cosmetic surgeon’s clinic for a follow-up after liposuction in November 2018, she was in so much pain she could barely walk.

Swollen, red and with what she’d later discover was an infection coursing through her body, the 55-year-old mother-of-three was shocked to discover the clinic was empty.

“I was in complete and utter agony,” she recalls, “I’ve never been in such excruciating pain in my whole life. I desperately needed pain relief, and I was there at my scheduled appointment time but there was no one there. Not a soul.”

Kathy Hubble was left in excruciating pain after having liposuction surgery. Picture: Supplied.

It was the latest in a long line of red flags associated with the procedure.

On the day of the surgery, Kathy walked into the room where the surgery was going to take place and asked a nurse where she should put her clothes. She was told “just on the floor”.

She says surgical instruments were laid out, exposed, and despite her repeatedly reminding staff that she was allergic to several types of antibiotics, as well as iodine, she never received an allergy wristband.

In fact, she had to stop the procedure when nurses began rubbing her down with iodine to prep her for surgery, forcing them to wash it off.

“By the time you show up for a procedure like that, though, you’ve worked yourself up,” she explains, “you’ve already talked yourself into it. I had been through a divorce, I wanted to do something for myself and my self esteem – you just assume you’re going to be taken care of.”

Kathy was a patient of Dr Daniel Lanzer, who was last year the subject of a joint investigation by Four Corners, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Partially due to that investigation, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA) has since launched an investigation into the disgraced doctor’s practices.

Kathy’s doctor, Dr Daniel Lanzer, is being investigated by AHPRA.

“On December 2, 2021, Dr Lanzer surrendered his medical registration,” explains a spokesperson for AHPRA.

“This means he is no longer registered and cannot practise as a registered medical practitioner anywhere in Australia. Registered health practitioners may choose to surrender their registration at any time.

“Dr Lanzer’s decision to surrender his registration has not stopped us from continuing our investigations into his conduct and performance.

“Should they result in a regulatory outcome, this would be considered if he was ever to seek to reapply for registration as a doctor in the future.”

But back in November 2018, Lanzer was very much still practising – and when Kathy showed up in agony the office was closed.

“I eventually saw the GP in the practice next door,” she explains, “and he prescribed some additional pain relief and suggested a review of the antibiotics I’d been prescribed.”

Over the next few days, however, Kathy’s condition worsened to the point where she could no longer walk.

“I couldn’t move. I couldn’t sit. I couldn’t stand,” she recalls. “I couldn’t walk. I was so swollen and so red with infection. I was hot and nauseated.

“I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t do anything. So my partner drove me to Gosford hospital and I was admitted straight away. They took my blood and discovered I was in septic shock from the infection and I had cellulitis from navel to knee.”

Kathy’s body’s was left infected after her liposuction treatment. Picture: Supplied.

Cellulitis is a bacterial skin infection which causes skin to become painful, red and swollen. It’s most commonly caused when streptococcus and staphylococcus, enter through a crack or break in skin and can be life threatening if left untreated.

Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.

“Even the people in the emergency department were absolutely astounded at the level of infection and how sick I was,” Kathy continues. “On my second day in hospital, I actually passed out in the shower because my blood pressure got so low.”

Kathy said the doctors told her she needed to be on a stronger dose of antibiotics and the level she was on meant an infection hadn’t been prevented but it could create a resistance to them in her body, which will be a problem for her in the future.

Kathy is just one of the several former patients involved in a class action against Dr Lanzer for alleged poor practices including price gouging, incorrect information prior to surgery, unsatisfactory outcomes and little to no after-care.

Two male surgeons who worked for Dr Lanzer seen dancing to Jolene while performing liposuction on an unconscious patient. Picture: Four Corners/ABC

On a broader scale, however, she and many others believe the problem is more widespread in the cosmetic surgery industry because – shockingly – in Australia anyone with a general medical degree can call themselves a ‘cosmetic surgeon’.

Dr Rob Sheen, President of the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS), says the situation is critical.

“There is a current crisis within medical care where the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ (an unregulated title that doesn’t formally exist) is being used by some practitioners to masquerade as specialist surgeons without the patient’s knowledge,” he explains.

“This is resulting in catastrophic impacts for those who are left with unsatisfactory outcomes, including permanent physical damage, mental and financial damage and in some catastrophic cases, death.”

Late last year, AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia announced an independent review of the cosmetic surgery sector had been commissioned. The review will call for submissions from the public in coming weeks and the findings of this review will be announced mid-year.

But for Dr Sheen, there is a change that could be made immediately that he believes will make things a lot safer.

Dr Daniel Lanzer and his wife at the launch of The Cosmetic Surgery Show in 2020. Picture: Fiona Byrne

“I think the solution is really, really simple,” he says. “The solution is to make doctors disclose to their patients what they are. So if you’re a dermatologist, you say, ‘I’m a dermatologist, if you still want me to operate on you, that’s fine. But you need to know that I’m a dermatologist, not a surgeon.’”

“[AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia] should mandate full disclosure, and they should prevent doctors just fabricating titles which make them sound like specialists. I think that’s a really simple solution to a very complex problem.”

He says that according to research carried out by the ASAPS, 80 per cent of Australians believe the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ indicates a doctor with the title has a surgical specialty. Even though Kathy Hubble is a qualified nurse, she was part of that 80 per cent.

“I was really brought in by the advertising and the so-called integrity of my surgeon,” she admits. “And I had no idea that [cosmetic surgeon] was not a qualification, that there was no regulation behind the title.”

While she eventually recovered from the sepsis and cellulitis, Kathy has been left with lasting, debilitating pain.

“I’ve now ended up with neuropathic pain across my abdomen. So when I get really stressed or anxious I get a flare-up of electric shock-type pain under my skin and across my abdomen. It’s like red ants biting me under my skin.”

Kathy wants anyone considering cosmetic surgery to ensure they’ve thoroughly researched their doctor, and considered their reasons for wanting it in the first place.

“Give yourself time and really, really investigate the surgeon that you’re thinking of having any kind of procedure with. Look up their, their outcomes, and whether they do any outcome measures or research they can show you,” she urges.

“Get on the phone and talk to them and say, ‘Introduce me to some of the people that you’ve done surgery on. Let me talk to them.’

“And consider what you’re really trying to change in the first place, because I thought I’d done my due diligence but it wasn’t enough, and now I’m left with lasting pain – and there are others who are much, much worse off as well.”

Bek Day is a freelance writer.