Amanda O’Brien entered Dr. Mahmood Kara’s office in 2019 for what was supposed to be a relatively simple procedure: a breast lift that would leave her existing implants intact, which he had placed 10 years earlier.
Instead, O’Brien ended up having to undergo five surgeries in the course of a year. The entire test resulted in an infection, deformed and scarred breasts, removal of her existing implants and a failed breast lift that cost about $ 17,000.
“This whole experience had a significant impact on my life,” he said. “I was very ill and emotionally exhausted.”
O’Brien is the plaintiff representing a $ 6 million class action lawsuit filed against the Toronto physician on behalf of patients who claim to have suffered disfigurement, scarring or injury after receiving Kara’s surgery. .
The doctor, who also works for Mahmoud Kara, owns Dr. Kara’s plastic surgery and previously operated four private clinics and two satellite locations in the Greater Toronto Area.
None of the charges against Kara have been tried in court and the lawsuit has not yet been certified as a class action.
Through her lawyer, Kara rejected a request for an interview with CBC, claiming that the matter is before the courts. Neither he nor his lawyer, Adam Patenaude, answered specific questions. In an email, Patenaude said Kara denies the allegations in the claim.
“Although Dr. Kara has not yet filed a statement of defense, he denies all allegations of negligence, breach of duty and misconduct in the statement of claim and will resist,” Patenaude said.
Through his lawyer, Dr. Mahmood Kara says he denies all charges of negligence, breach of duty and misconduct in the statement of claim against him. (drkaraplasticsurgery.com)
CBC News was first reported in Kara in October 2021when several patients said he took thousands of dollars of his money in deposits for procedures he did not end up doing.
CBC has learned that it has since paid for some of these patients. However, in addition to the proposed class action, it faces a second lawsuit for breach of contract.
And, in a strange move by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO), his medical license has been temporarily suspended while the regulatory body investigates complaints against him.
The suspension was made under a section of the Regulated Health Professionals Act, which allows the CPSO to initiate a temporary suspension if there is evidence to suggest that patients may be at risk for harm or injury.
The Kara Clinic website says its consultation is temporarily closed, but will be reopened soon. It also includes a note on how patients can request their medical history.
The lawsuit claims a “cruel disregard” of patient safety
The proposed class action so far includes 16 members and states that Kara and her clinic did business “in an arrogant and arrogant way and with unbridled and cruel contempt for patient safety.”
According to lawyer Kris Bonn, who filed the claim on behalf of the patients, “he abused his trust and only fell off the face of the earth, as far as we can understand, and did not follow up properly.”
TARGET | Amanda O’Brien says her life has been severely affected:
Dr. Kara’s patient talks about multiple failed surgeries
Peterborough patient Amanda O’Brien says the experience of undergoing five surgeries significantly affected her life.
The lawsuit also alleges that breast implant manufacturers stopped supplying products to Kara, so she used the old ones she had in stock.
“As a result, Dr. Kara placed implants on patients who were not the size that the patients had accepted and what the patients had paid for,” the claim statement says.
The patient says that Kara’s surgery left her with a deformed chest
O’Brien’s ordeal began in the summer of 2019, when he traveled more than 100 miles from Peterborough, Ont. in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough for a breast lift surgery with Kara.
The statement states that after O’Brien was medicated and under sedation, Kara told him that there would be a change of plans: he would have to have his existing implants removed and that he would have to return for breast lift surgery afterwards. to heal.
The claim states that O’Brien accepted under duress, but was not told he would have to buy new implants at a cost of $ 10,000.
He eventually agreed to pay for the new implants, also under duress, but asked for a $ 17,000 breast lift refund, according to the claim. He told the clinic that if he did not agree, he would consider legal action.
Kara’s office offered her an agreement: to sign a document stating that O’Brien would not take legal action or write any negative comments about Kara, and the office would give her a partial refund for the elevator, according to the revised documents. by CBC. O’Brien did not sign it.
A few months later, O’Brien says the office contacted her and offered to waive the cost of the new implants and offer a discounted breast lift without her having to sign anything. She agreed.
In January 2020, O’Brien underwent breast lift surgery, which caused a “serious infection” in his left breast, according to the claim.
The claim states that in a seven-month period, Kara underwent three additional surgeries to try to treat the infection and subsequent deformity of her chest, without success.
“I probably had a bit of depression. It definitely took its toll,” O’Brien said.
After the last attempt to repair the damage was unsuccessful, O’Brien contacted the clinic to request a follow-up appointment, but never received a response, according to the claim. She decided not to go any further.
He doesn’t know if another surgery could help fix the damage he says Kara did. At this point, he is too scared to find out.
“I’ve lost faith and the ability to trust this industry.”
“I’m not comfortable, I’m not sure”
In the photographs, O’Brien’s breasts are deformed with a scar on his right chest and a more severe scar on his left.
She describes her appearance as if someone was sewing a piece of fabric and then stretching the stitch from the inside to create a crumpled seam.
“The skin is very loose [breast] it’s a totally different size from the other, ”he said.“ I’m not comfortable, I’m not sure. I don’t like looking in the mirror. “
Personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer Kris Bonn filed the proposed class action on behalf of Dr. Mahmood Kara’s former patients. (Darek Zdzienicki / CBC)
O’Brien says he also struggles with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder while in medical settings, including panic attacks at the dentist.
“That wasn’t the norm for me all my life. I’m 42,” he said.
His lawyer says that while there is a risk of infection and scarring after surgery, O’Brien’s case is out of the ordinary.
“I think the level we’ve seen here in the number of women affected certainly suggests that something wasn’t going right,” Bonn told CBC.
Kara returned some deposits following the lawsuit for breach of contract
Kara is the subject of another lawsuit involving 19 plaintiffs alleging that he breached his contracts by taking his deposit and failing to perform the procedure.
The claim, which was filed in October, is for the amounts paid by each customer, amounting to more than $ 200,000, along with $ 25,000 each in punitive damages.
Deborah Laurie is the plaintiff’s representative representative and paid a deposit of just over $ 9,600 for a breast lift. He says his dream was to do the procedure, after waiting 15 years.
A few months after filing the claim, he regained his deposit, but says his dream is ruined.
Debbie Laurie says that even though Dr. Mahmood Kara reimbursed her for the deposit, she no longer trusts the plastic surgery industry. (Submitted by Debbie Laurie)
“In the end I got my money back and I’m happy,” he said. “But I just forgot about my dream. Now I’m even afraid to try again, because I don’t know if there are safety nets.”
Laurie is one of several women with whom CBC spoke to whom the deposit was refunded. It is unclear how many patients Kara has paid for.
Neither Kara, nor his office nor the lawyer (separate from Patenaude) who helped him disperse the money responded to multiple inquiries from CBC News about the breach of contract. Neither did the lawyer who filed the breach of contract.
No defense has been filed in the case.