by Kristina Fiore, Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting, MedPage Today October 21, 2021
The "Botox doctor" who sued Yelp over bad reviews had his New Jersey medical license suspended this week around allegations of poorly performed procedures and patient harm.
Muhammad Mirza, MD, an internist from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, allegedly used dermal fillers for off-label purposes including non-surgical penile and breast enhancement procedures, according to a complaint filed to the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners by the state's Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
In one instance where a filler was used in penile enhancement, a patient allegedly required hospitalization and needed two emergency surgeries, according to the DCA press release.
"When consulted by an emergency room physician regarding his treatment of the patient, Mirza allegedly failed to accurately disclose the exact filler he injected into the patient's penis, further complicating the patient's post-procedure emergency care," the release stated.
The complaint followed a DCA investigation that began in April following numerous consumer complaints to the agency about the doctor and his company, Mirza Aesthetics.
Patients stated that Mirza didn't wear a mask or gloves during procedures; that he used high-pressure sales tactics; that he caused physical complications like a lump and seizure; and that he failed to respond to post-procedure complaints.
During an inspection, DCA investigators found that Mirza's office in Summit, New Jersey, had just one large room with a curtain used as a divider between the waiting area and the patient treatment area. The treatment area had only chairs and a folding table, according to the DCA release.
There was no medical examination table, nor were there any medical-grade storage refrigerators, inspectors reported. Instead, Mirza kept his supply of fillers in duffel bags.
DCA's complaint also alleged that Mirza improperly used injectable dermal fillers off-label for aesthetic procedures close to patients' eyes, which, if done incorrectly, could lead to vision loss or permanent blindness. It also charged that Mirza used fillers off-label for breast enhancement, which could obfuscate mammogram results, and that he didn't perform skin allergy testing before injecting fillers.
"Patients who seek cosmetic procedures are entitled to safe and appropriate care by properly trained professionals who put their health and safety above all else," Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew Bruck said in a statement. "We will not allow doctors to take advantage of patients' desires to look and feel better about themselves by subjecting them to medically inappropriate procedures that expose them to grave harm and permanent disfigurement."
According to the DCA release, Mirza denied the allegations against him, and agreed to a temporary suspension of his license until the case can be heard by an administrative law judge, and until further action by the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners.
The board's consent order also prohibits Mirza from treating New Jersey patients in any other locations where he is licensed to practice medicine, including New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
In Mirza's November 2019 lawsuit against Yelp, he attempted to block four reviewers who had left a handful of one-star reviews from posting further. He also sought $1 million in damages.
Those reviewers had complained that Mirza watered down the injectable fillers and made people buy more filler than they needed. Some even called him a "scam artist."
A previous lawsuit Mirza filed against Yelp ended in victory, with injunctions against two reviewers who had to remove their posts.
"Social media has been extremely weaponized to the point that it's not serving the interest of society, and someone has to take charge," Mirza told MedPage Today at the time. "These platforms need to be regulated in the same way we regulate other industries. Reviewers can't just hide behind the screen."
Kristina Fiore leads MedPage’s enterprise & investigative reporting team. She’s been a medical journalist for more than a decade and her work has been recognized by Barlett & Steele, AHCJ, SABEW, and others. Send story tips to k.fiore@medpagetoday.com. Follow
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