Controversial cosmetic surgeon Dr Daniel Lanzer quits as regulators circle

The website said it all. “Dr Lanzer has retired. He is no longer a medical practitioner.”

Those few words set the industry alight.

Social media video of Daniel Lanzer marking up a patient for cosmetic surgeryCredit: Social media

Just over a month after a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Four Corners revealed a series of disturbing allegations about the Lanzer clinics that triggered an immediate investigation by the national and state regulators, celebrity cosmetic surgeon Dr Daniel Lanzer surrendered his medical registration to the national regulator on December 2.

By dusk on Thursday evening, his landmark day hospital in Melbourne’s leafy Malvern, where many of the safety and hygiene issues and botched surgery allegations were made, was painted over. In Brisbane, the signage has been removed and his Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane websites carried the statement, permanently closed.

The website’s previously slick marketing tools, jammed full of videos and images of Lanzer and his patients, are in the process of being de-Lanzerfied and his social media accounts which boasted millions of followers have been wiped clean and his photo and title removed.

After 30 years promoting himself as the world’s leading cosmetic surgeon on TV shows, in popular women’s magazines and on social media, the Lanzer name is being airbrushed from cosmetic surgery.

Dr Lanzer’s decision to surrender his registration will not stop us from continuing our investigation.

AHRPA statement

It has made him a fortune, with his wealth estimated at over $100 million, through clinics, day hospitals, a skin care range and dozens of commercial and residential properties and developments.

But plans to expand the business exponentially by rolling out up to 60 skin clinics with an investor, are in disarray.

His sudden retirement and erasure of the Lanzer brand, is a far different message he sent to 65 staff on October 29, just a few days after the media investigation. In that message, leaked to The Age and the Herald, he told them he was taking a break to “clear my name of these ridiculous accusations.” He said “we will have our day… Everyone should be reassured we are going to be continuing… the Lanzer clinic will continue.”

Signs removed from Dr Lanzer’s landmark clinic in MelbourneCredit: Adele Ferguson

Later that day he entered an enforceable undertaking with the Australian Health Practitioner Agency (AHPRA) not to practice while the investigation was ongoing and headed overseas. Speculation abounds that he is living in Israel, where he owns at least one property.

Between then and now a lot has happened, including the departure of a number of staff, some voluntarily, some resigned, which added to the stress.

There was the banning less than a week ago by AHPRA of his senior associate Dr Daniel Aronov from performing all types of cosmetic surgery and a condition that he can only practice as a GP under supervision.

One of the last patient’s Dr Aronov operated on before his ban was a 42-year-old woman who underwent a tummy tuck and liposuction at Surry Hills Day Hospital on November 15 and was found hours later by her partner in a critical condition and was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital.

Marie in ICU at St Vincent’s Hospital hours after a cosmetic surgery procedure.

The fallout included a move by AHPRA to conduct an arms’ length review of the cosmetic surgery industry, which will make many players nervous, as well as their insurers, who will be weighing up the added regulatory risks when they calculate the premiums.

It is not known why Lanzer decided to retire before AHPRA completed its investigation into him. A series of questions to him were ignored, with a three-word response provided. “I have retired.”

It has left some paying patients confused. Some, who booked and had paid a deposit or had paid in full for surgery ahead of the October 25 joint media investigation, were being told earlier this week “unfortunately we are still on hold of any cosmetic surgeries at the moment. We will be in contact with you as soon as we resumed to organise another surgery date. You are on our priority wait list. Thank you for your patience!”

Calls to the Sydney clinic were diverted to a looped recorded message spruiking the skin clinics and in Melbourne, a receptionist said Dr Lanzer had retired and she wasn’t sure which surgeon would be operating next year.

Social media experts Michael Fraser and Maddison Johnstone have been monitoring the websites and noticed a series of changes when he became aware of the media investigation, then after the exposé. For instance, the website stopped calling Dr Lanzer a dermatological surgeon, then after publication of the stories, more explicit risk statements were added to the website about cosmetic procedures. Then this week the website underwent a massive clean-out with references to Lanzer removed.

AHPRA said in a statement “Dr Lanzer’s decision to surrender his registration will not stop us from continuing our investigation. We are continuing our investigations into Dr Lanzer’s conduct and performance and should they result in a regulatory outcome, this would be considered if he was ever to seek to reapply for registration in the future”

The cosmetic surgery industry is worth big bucks and Australians are among the highest consumers of cosmetic procedures per capita in the world.

Yet, its regulation has been woeful, with a labyrinth of regulators each failing to keep patients safe. It has allowed cowboys to flourish and tap into the wild west of social media to lure in unsuspecting patients, who they have used as human guinea pigs to practice their skills. One nurse recalls how a high-profile cosmetic surgeon learned how to do facelifts on a DVD. Many operate outside of hospitals, in unregistered clinics or day hospitals, with little scrutiny.

The catch cry of these authorities is a “risk based system” of regulation. But that can be a disaster when the regulator in question is asleep at the wheel. In this case, it seems they all were.

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