A plastic surgeon from Staten Island had his medical license revoked as a result of a state panel review of his 40-plus malpractice suits.
The state Health Department's Office of Professional Medical Conduct issued the order against 71-year-old Dr. Robert Cattani. Dr. Cattani has been practicing in New York since 1968 and has offices in Staten Island, Manhattan, and on Long Island.
The board had suspended his license earlier in December. Now, they have sustained 10 of 12 professional misconduct allegations against him, including gross negligence, negligence, incompetence, and inaccurate record-keeping. The committee thought total revocation of his license would send a strong message to other potentially careless surgeons.
One incident, according to Staten Island Live, was a botched 2005 facelift and eyelid lift. The patient, a local preschool teacher, successfully sued in 2009 because she was left blind in her right eye.
In 2010, a tummy tuck operation almost killed a man who later required three units of packed red blood cells. When the patient began bleeding and his kidney began failing, Cattani refused sending him to the hospital. After relenting, however, his patient required 9 days in the hospital.
That same year, a breast implant patient developed an infection in Cattani's office, which resulted in deformities that required further surgery by another doctor.
Some believe the board took too long to act, although the Health Department stands by its careful disciplinary process. Meanwhile, Dr. Cattani points out that he has conducted over 13,000 procedures over the course of his practice and very few ever went wrong.
