If you have followed this blog or my Instagram for any amount of time, you have likely seen me advocate for choosing a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for any Cosmetic Surgery procedure.
Surely if we can seek out a legitimate Doc and do our due diligence in between a 9-5, play dates, happy hours, workouts all while on a budget, a celebrity would clearly have the resources to do the same. Wrong.
Meet Dr. Ayman Shahine. Made Insta-famous by reality TV celebs from shows such as Love & Hip Hop and Mob Wives, Dr. Shahine is currently under investigation by a New York State Oversight Board all while being sued by a number of former patients. The claims? As told by said patients to Inside Edition, Dr. Shahine fell asleep while in the operating room, “forgot” to wear gloves during surgery and performed botched procedures leaving patients grossly disfigured. Side Note: he happens to be a Gynecologist with no formal training in plastic surgery. *inserteyerollhere*
How could this be? How could a “Cosmetic Surgeon to the Stars” be so blatantly negligent? After all, these celebs have unlimited resources, assistants and funds to seek out and select only the best and most qualified doctors, right? As it turns out, the process of selecting a doctor may have an additional motivating factor for a lot of reality stars. Gratis surgery or monetary gain in exchange for exposure to the large social media following of these reality stars.
Inside Edition sat down with some of Dr. Shahine’s patients and, after a slight office ambush, sat down with Dr. Shahine personally.
My thoughts on Dr. Shahine’s interview:
- As someone who has worked in cosmetic medicine for almost a decade, I have never “misspoke” and claimed to be a nurse or medical professional. That doesn’t happen.
- If you don’t meet with the actual doctor performing procedures in your consultation, leave.
- Even the best doctors I have worked with do not have a 99.9% satisfaction rate with patients. I am not sure anyone does as you cannot make everyone happy.
- Lastly, that dude was sleeping. Don’t even start with “I had a headache…” in the OR…with a surgical marker in your hand.
This is not to say there are not excellent surgeons on social media working publicly with celebrities. Dr. Jason Diamond and Dr. Craig Ziering are two examples of fabulous board certified doctors who post daily to Instagram, often with recognizable faces in their office. While the famous face may intrigue you, an independent search would prove them to be highly skilled docs as well.
The bottom line is simple. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Do not depend on any celebrity, reality star or even personal referral to decide who performs any medical procedures for you. This can determine whether you have a wonderful outcome…or a messy, painful, embarrassing, or even tragic one.
Your perspective is refreshing and factual. Thanks for the heads up!
Thank you, Nadia!