Celebrity surgeon Dr Daniel Lanzer hits back at horror allegations on Four Corners

One of Australia’s best-known cosmetic surgeons has hit back after Four Corners exposed a shocking litany of allegations against him.

One of Australia’s best-known cosmetic surgeons and global social media sensation Dr Daniel Lanzer has hit back after a documentary exposed a shocking litany of allegations against him.

Former staff members, medical experts and unhappy patients came forward in a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the ABC’s Four Corners that revealed alleged serious hygiene and safety breaches, and botched procedures that left patients in extreme pain and requiring further medical treatment.

Speaking to his hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, Dr Lanzer – who says he has thousands of happy former patients – said the allegations against him have been brought on by a “turf war” in the world of surgery.

Dr Lanzer has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

He said the divide has been caused by jealousy and money, and that he will soon expose the “horrific results” of one of the surgeons who has spoken out against him.

In the joint investigation, which aired on Four Corners on Monday night, former staffers alleged there were horrifying scenes at Dr Lanzer’s surgeries.

“People are just pushed in and out, blood everywhere, fat everywhere,” one former nurse said.

The investigation also revealed footage from one of Dr Lanzer’s surgeries that showed his staff and contractors dancing and singing while performing liposuction procedures on an unconscious patient.

In the recording, two doctors laugh and dance to Dolly Parton’s Jolene as they thrust cannulas into an unconscious male patient to the beat of the song. Experts told the investigation the footage was dangerous and disrespectful.

Several former patients also came forward to allege they had been left in pain and needing hospital treatment after their surgery in one of Dr Lanzer’s clinics.

Kathy Hubble, said she ended up in hospital for almost a week after developing a serious infection, cellulitis, shortly after attending Dr Lanzer’s clinic in November 2018 for liposuction procedures on her legs and abdomen.

One clip shows staff dancing to Dolly Parton’s Jolene during surgery. Picture: ABC

The show aired on Monday night.

“It got to the point where I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t lie down,” she said. “I’ve never had such agony in all my life.”

Dr Lanzer is a qualified dermatologist, but over the past three decades he has built a career in the fast-growing field of cosmetic surgery.

The joint investigation spoke to experts who said the billion-dollar cosmetic surgery industry had become a “wild west”.

However, the investigation has been slammed by Dr Lanzer – who said it had been driven by a divide in the world of surgery.

“There’s something I’d been holding to heart for 30 years and I never wanted to talk about it today,” he said. “There has been a longstanding, one-sided, jealousy and financially related turf war between a group of surgeons called plastic surgeons and non-plastic surgeons.”

He said he was “very proud” of being a dermatologist who helped pioneer several types of procedures.

The investigation alleges botched procedures left patients in extreme pain and requiring further medical treatment. Picture: ABC

“But there’s a group of three plastic surgeons who have got together to try and defame me,” he said, adding that this had been going on for several years. “And, I’ve kept quiet all these years because I always said just focus on what you’re doing.

“But now they’re trying to go public, it’s given me no choice and I’m going to have to reveal to Australia and the world the truth.

“I’m going to show you some of the horrific results of one of those surgeons who says he’s so great and puts me down.”

He said that on Tuesday he will reveal “lots of things that explain everything” on his website.

“I love you all,” he told his followers as he broke out into a smile. “The truth will prevail. I’m smiling and laughing because I know the truth so don’t worry.”