When it comes to plastic surgery, as anyone with a botched nose job or facelift will tell you, it is better to pay the higher price to have a reputed and certified plastic surgeon treat you than to go to an unknown doctor and have yourself operated on for the cheaper price.
This fact was recently proved when Steven Moos, an unlicensed plastic “surgeon” was arrested for conducting illegal cosmetic surgery in his kitchen in Dubai. Moos has also practiced in the US and is currently on the FBI and Interpol’s wanted lists. Naturally and finally, Moos has been barred from practicing medicine in the US.
Moos was arrested in February, 2010, on account of his turning his kitchen into an operating theatre and giving a new meaning to the word butcher. The desperate patient who actually allowed moos to operate on him or her remains unnamed but it is easy to imagine some poor hapless person with low self confidence who was preyed on by Moos and then convinced to become the patient to Moos’ fake “doctor” degree.
Moos was first arrested in Sharjah, but was later released on bail when the authorities were creating a verified file on him. Moos shockingly continued to practice out of his villa until his arrest in February!
In addition to being a fake plastic surgeon and practicing in the US and operating on his kitchen table in Dubai, Moos is also wanted for possession and trafficking of drugs and giving false statements to the government. Some of these accusations stem back to the year 2004 and one cannot help but wonder at how long this man has been allowed to practice on unsuspecting victims!
Moos had also stolen the identity of Dr Hopping and was impersonating the licensed US surgeon in the UAE. The real Dr Hopping is known to visit Dubai about thrice a year to conduct procedures at the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital in Dubai Healthcare City. Dr Hopping who is currently living in Washington DC is “angry and upset.”
“The scary thing is that there is no way of knowing exactly what he was doing while he was pretending to be me. Was he using sterile equipment and needles? If not, he could have been spreading all kinds of diseases, like HIV. This is surgery and there can be complications,” said Dr Hopping.
According to the head of the Dubai CID, Brig Khalil al Mansouri, Moos was placed under several charges that including the endangerment of lives, possession and trafficking of drugs, impersonation of a physician and for performing unlicensed surgical procedures. The FBI also claimed that Moos was a “known user of narcotics.”
Moos had also been put on probation in the US by the Oregon Board of Medical in 2000 for a period of 10 years on charges that he was advertising and selling prescription drugs online.
With his long rap sheet of charges and considering the fact that he had been practicing illegally for several years, one cannot help but wonder how many people went under his knife?
Whilst we at Financial Facts may know little about cosmetic surgery, we do recommend that if you are to go under the knife then use a recommended cosmetic surgery clinic such as Transform.
#1 by Jane at April 30th, 2010
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Thanks for a really interesting article. Its true that you have to be careful about things like this. Even if you are desperate you should always make sure your doctor is legit. This South African Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon has some useful info on what you shold look at when choosing a doctor.