A sad story in the Times today about a woman from Limerick who died following a facelift at the hands of a self-promoting New York surgeon:

Mrs. Cregan had left her home in rural Ireland two days before, telling her husband, a farmer and part-time plumber, that she would be attending a business course in Dublin. In fact she had flown to the United States to have a face-lift performed by Dr. Michael E. Sachs in his offices on Central Park South. Hours after surgery she went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital. … Examining Mrs. Cregan’s knapsack after her death, her family found a folded copy of an article from The Sunday Independent of Ireland. It was a glowing account of a face-lift performed by Dr. Sachs, “a leading cosmetic and facial reconstruction surgeon” in the United States, the article said, with a “highly confidential client list.”

Sachs appears to have drummed up interest in Ireland via a story in the Sunday Indo Magazine about a facelift he performed on an Irish woman for free, in exchange for the publicity. Sachs seems like a dodgy character:

Dr. Sachs is among the most sued doctors in New York State, having settled 33 malpractice suits since 1995 … last year the State Health Department took the extraordinary step of banning Dr. Sachs – an ear, nose and throat specialist – from performing complex nasal surgeries without the supervision of another surgeon; … the operating room in his office is not accredited … [and] while he states on his Web site that he has been affiliated with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary “for the last 23 years,” he is not affiliated with that hospital or any other.

A sidelight to the story is that Brendan O’Connor, the editor of the Magazine, is quoted defending the Indo’s decision to run the original story:

“If this guy is fit to practice medicine in the United States, who are we to say he’s not fit to practice?” said Brendan O’Connor, the editor of The Sunday Independent magazine. But Mr. O’Connor said last week he was unaware of the 33 lawsuits or the restrictions placed on Dr. Sachs by New York State health authorities.

I knew Brendan in college. We were on the committee of the Philosoph (the University debating society) at the same time. He was a viciously funny guy. After college he became a journalist and TV personality. Any time I’ve come across him since then, his success in those areas seems to have gone hand in hand with an increasing tendency towards media hackery. This is a pity, as when I knew him he had a finely-calibrated bullshit detector and a talent for brutally exposing it in others.

Meanwhile, Sachs continues to see himself as something of a hero:

“He was full of praise for himself,” Mrs. Kelly said of Dr. Sachs. “He said, ‘I operate on presidents’ wives’ and talked about where he is in life, how popular he is.” That evening Mrs. Cregan was declared brain-dead. The family had her respirator disconnected the next morning, and she died almost immediately.

“Without a doubt it’s a tragedy,” Dr. Sachs said last week. “We did everything we could to treat her with as much care, respect and love as we could.” He said he has resumed his normal surgery schedule and has the support of friends and former patients. “They’re patting me on the back, and saying, ‘Listen, Dr. Sachs, you’re a really fine surgeon, and I trust you to do my surgery.’ My patients were consoling me. It made me feel great.”