An eye doctor in Atlanta, USA, has denied any wrongdoing, despite 11 women claiming he disfigured them and ruined their lives, while the state medical board, which has interviewed the women, would not confirm or deny an investigation into Dr Harvey “Chip” Cole.
One of the complainants, Jennifer Messer, said that in 2022, she had visited Cole’s rooms seeking two plastic surgery eye procedures – but had left agreeing to many more, and that he reminded her of a car salesman.
“He said that ‘If you’re already going to be asleep, you might as well go ahead and have this done at the same time’,” she told Atlanta News First.
Messer’s negligence lawsuit describes an endoscopic lower facelift; endoscopic lower lid and cheek lift; lip lift; chin implantation; endoscopic brow lift; bilateral upper lid blepharoplasty; and laser resurfacing.
“I had never even thought of anything like that,” she said. But what Messer assumed would be improvements led to impairment, she alleged.
Traumatised
She said the results left her traumatised. Her children were scared of her because of what her face looked like for months, which the lawsuit described as “disfigurement, deformity, scarring and impaired vision”.
Cole performed the surgeries at a Northside Hospital Outpatient Centre, which Messer has also named as a defendant in the case.
A hospital spokesperson had previously said Cole was not a member of the Northside Hospital medical staff and “does not treat patients here”.
“Because of the ongoing litigation, we are not able to share additional details.”
Cole’s attorney said he was “fellowship-trained in oculofacial plastic surgery with a 35-year career”.
“He is being sued by one attorney and nine former patients with no known connections. Lawsuits were filed before any media stories, raising questions about how one attorney located so many patients.
“By all appearances, dozens of patients have been actively solicited to bring lawsuits … in the hope of a big ‘payday’.”
A consulting surgeon in the lawsuit said Cole was “in violation of standard of care” when he “recommended and performed full facial plastic surgery”.
A total of 11 former patients filed lawsuits against Cole, citing facial plastic surgery injuries.
While he is certified is oculofacial plastic surgery, attorneys representing former patients allege he demonstrated he is unqualified by performing surgeries incorrectly.
The Georgia Composite Medical Board would not confirm or deny any investigation, but said that any complaints are always investigated.
The Board has received 1 371 complaints so far this year that include other doctors and physicians, said a spokesperson. Currently, 690 of those cases are assigned to its six working investigators.
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