Cosmetic surgeon accused of doctoring reviews on Google

Cosmetic surgeon and social media star Dr Daniel Lanzer has been accused of paying an unhappy patient to replace a negative online review of a procedure at one of his clinics with a glowing testimonial.

Dr Lanzer also offered staff financial incentives to encourage patients to write positive reviews, internal communications show.

Cosmetic surgeon Daniel Lanzer.

The revelations come as the peak body for cosmetic surgeons, the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine, launched an urgent investigation into Dr Lanzer after The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC’s Four Corners uncovered “unacceptable practices” at his clinics.

A spokesperson for the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery said it would investigate whether Dr Lanzer had breached its constitution.

“The college’s constitution includes a range of sanctions which can include expulsion if a fellow is found to be in breach of the college’s standards.

“Any action in relation to Dr Lanzer will be determined by the result of the investigation.”

The Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Four Corners exposé into the cosmetic surgery industry uncovered allegations of troubling practices across Dr Lanzer’s network, including serious hygiene and safety breaches, and multiple examples of botched procedures that have left patients in extreme pain and requiring further medical treatment.

Dr Lanzer did not respond directly to questions for this story, but in a statement said he was “a victim of a terrible turf war between plastic surgeons and other surgeons in Australia”.

He said he would not respond to claims made by “disgruntled” former staffers. “Instead, I have commissioned an independent assessment of the allegations and the practices in my clinics to ensure they maintain highest standards of care that have been a hallmark of my 30-year career.”

Some patients, including Jackie M, who had liposuction of the neck, said the reason they chose the Lanzer clinic was because of the media hype. “I scoured Google reviews, looking for something negative and there were glowing reviews, and now, when I look back at it, those reviews don’t make sense,” Jackie said.

Former patient Jackie. Credit: Eddie Jim

Another patient, Brianna, had liposuction at Dr Lanzer’s Sydney clinic in 2018 and was “horrified” by the facility and the procedure.

“There were blood and chunks of skin, bits of me all over the floor. When I sat up, liquid arched out of me. Squirted out. There were chunks of fat everywhere,” she said.

Brianna described the clinic as “like a sweatshop” and said she was surprised given the many positive reviews online.

“When you Google it, he’s the person that comes up as having a lot of experience and expertise. I thought that I was carefully selecting someone reputable.”

However, there is evidence that some of those reviews could be misleading.

At least five nurses who work for Dr Lanzer’s clinics have posted glowing five-star Google reviews without declaring they are employees, the investigation has been told.

There is also evidence that some staff were offered financial incentives to encourage patients to submit positive reviews. Communications from Dr Lanzer to staff earlier this year include an offer of a payment of $30 “for each review you get on Melbourne Google reviews next 7 days.”

The message said, “Just let me know who did it. Can be anywhere in Australia on Melbourne site.”

In a recent court judgment related to an injunction over this story, Justice John Nicholas said documents provided by the ABC included “a video recording of what I was informed are images of Dr Lanzer explaining to [then staff member Justin Nixon] how to modify Google reviews.”

Former staffer Justin Nixon.Credit: Joe Armao

Patient Mark Corbett said he wrote a scathing Google review in February 2020 after a “horrifying” facelift 18 months earlier, which he says scarred him on the side of his face.

In his original review, Mr Corbett said Dr Lanzer deserved zero stars. The review said he was left with scarring on both sides of his face which looked like Dr Lanzer had used a “kitchen knife”.

“Horrifying to say the least and bleeding … not what I would call a bloodless procedure,” he wrote.

“[Dr Lanzer] walked away and complained about the amount of blood. I was still getting blood out of my ears days later.”

That review is no longer publicly available.

In its place is a five-star review from Mark Corbett which reads:

“It’s been a great result with Dr Lanzer his caring approach to the issues & hands on care and amazing after-care! I can highly recommend Dr Lanzer.”

Mr Corbett said shortly after posting the review, Dr Lanzer called him and asked how much he wanted to change it.

“I said flippantly a thousand bucks and he offered to fix it himself but there’s no way I wanted him to touch me again,” he said.

Mr Corbett said $1000 was lodged into his bank account after changing the review to a five-star rating.

Mr Corbett retains a copy of the receipt of money deposited into his account around the time the review changed.

“I do sometimes think about whether I should have amended the review because he really shouldn’t be practising,” he said.

Former competition tsar Allan Fels said deceptive and misleading conduct was a breach of the Australian Consumer Law and carried a maximum fine of $10 million per offence.

“If a business aided and abetted or knowingly participated in misleading and deceptive conduct it is liable,” he said.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said businesses cannot mislead or deceive customers regarding goods and services. “The ACCC is aware of various ways in which businesses may manipulate online reviews to mislead or deceive consumers,” it said in a statement. “For example, a business may post fake positive reviews about their goods or services, or offer incentives to consumers to post positive reviews or remove negative reviews. Businesses may also post fake negative reviews about their competitors.”

It said it had acted against a number of businesses for misleading customers by manipulating reviews on their websites or third-party platforms.

Nurse Justin Nixon, who resigned from Dr Lanzer’s practice last year, said good reviews were a priority at the clinics.

“My job was to push hard for reviews, to hound patients on the spot to get a good review,” Mr Nixon said. “It’s also about protecting the image.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.