Staten Island Cosmetic Surgeon Deemed “Imminent Threat To The Health And Safety” Of New Yorkers

Well, it’s about time! I have posted before about Dr. Robert Cattani’s horrible atrocities he called “practicing medicine.” Countless times he has absolutely butchers his patients, and has only suffered pecuniary losses from civil actions. Now, the New York State Department of Health has revoked Cattani’s medical license to practice and declared him an “imminent threat to the health and safety” of New Yorkers. The Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct found that Cattani “committed sufficiently egregious misconduct” and that the “only way to ensure the safety of the public was to revoke [Cattani’s] medical license . . . [a]ny other penalty would risk a recurrence of this behavior. The public should not bear that risk.”

The Department of Health had four cases in front of them and, while Cattani has had his license suspended since December, has finally lost his license for good. Thank god! But many of the victims question why it took 7 years for the Department of Health to pull away Cattani’s license. With more than 40 medical malpractice lawsuits filed against Cattani, I have the same concern! He should have had his license pulled much earlier, at least suspended earlier, especially because he is performing elective surgeries as opposed to emergency medicine. I understand the utility in a cosmetic surgeon, but the necessity is not there in most instances.

In one case, he left a patient blind in one eye after he botched an eyelid lift in 2005. In another case, his patient almost bled to death during a tummy-tuck procedure. In a third case, Cattani completely destroyed the sides of a patient’s face in a botched face-lift case. Another patient suffered an abdominal perforation during a liposuction operation which could have been deadly. In 2010, a breast implant patient suffered a severe infection and horrific deformities that required additional surgeries from another doctor to correct.

Shouldn’t doctors like this lose their license really quickly? Cattani had the nerve to even argue that, of the 13,000 operations he has done in his career, only a handful went wrong. Only a handful? Are you kidding? A doctor cannot make any mistakes that result in the deformity, threat of death, or the death of a patient. Period. How could anyone justify only a few mistakes?

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com . You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.