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News Release — July 2, 2002
MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA
July 2, 2002
Medical Board Revokes License of Former
Newport Beach Physician
SACRAMENTO-The Medical Board of California has revoked the medical license of Patrick Ziad Abuzeni, M.D., formerly of Newport Beach. The revocation was effective June 24, 2002.
After a hearing, Administrative Law Judge Roy W. Hewitt recommended that Abuzeni's license be revoked, and the Board adopted his decision. Judge Hewitt concluded that Abuzeni, in the care and treatment of one patient, committed several separate acts of gross negligence and repeated negligent acts; demonstrated incompetence; failed to maintain adequate and accurate records; and knowingly signed a document directly related to the practice of medicine which falsely represented the existence of a state of facts.
Abuzeni twice participated in performing a breast augmentation procedure that is an extreme departure from the standard of care. This procedure,"BAMBI" (Bilateral Augmentation Mammoplasty by Injection), involves harvesting fat from areas of a patient's body and injecting the fat into the patient's breasts to enlarge them. In consultation with another physician, Abuzeni, when performing the first BAMBI procedure on the patient, also performed an experimental procedure involving platelet-rich plasma using the patient as her own "control" subject by treating one breast differently from the other.
While Abuzeni discussed the BAMBI procedure with the patient, the judge found that, given what Abuzeni told her, he did not in fact obtain her "consent." Abuzeni failed to inform the patient that the fat injected in her breasts during the BAMBI procedure may become calcified and indistinguishable from cancerous growths on mammography, rendering mammography ineffective as a screening device for breast cancer. The judge similarly concluded that the procedure involving the use of her blood was not adequately disclosed to her. These and other failures by Abuzeni to fully inform the patient of the risks of procedures he performed were found to be extreme departures from the standard of care.
The judge further found that Abuzeni signed his operative report inaccurately, incompletely, and that it falsely represented the surgical procedures performed. The judge also found that Abuzeni's act of performing a thigh-lift procedure on the patient, even though he had not even seen one performed before, and without proper supervision, constituted an extreme departure from the standard of care.
Harm done to the patient included one breast being smaller than the other; and blistering, discoloration, necrosis, and extensive scarring of the patient's thighs resulting from Abuzeni's negligently performed thigh lift and his inadequate post-operative care and monitoring of the patient.
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The Medical Board of California is the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating physicians in this state.
www.medbd.ca.gov
Information about specific physicians: (916) 263-2382
Complaint line: (800) 633-2322
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