Two surgeons have been banned from practicing medicine after an operation went horribly wrong.
The health professionals were carrying out a penis enlargement procedure on Ehud Arye Laniado, a Belgian-Israeli diamond dealer, when he died of a heart attack at the Saint-Honore-Ponthieu aesthetic clinic in Paris.
Guy H, the star surgeon of the practice, has a history of operations on wealthy clients, even treating Laniado two to four times a year in procedures.
The Wealthy Omega Diamonds owner would spend tens of thousands of euros on these appointments, which would take place out of office hours.
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Laniado was receiving penis injections to enhance its size, as an investigation looked into the circumstances of his death.
It considered potential manslaughter chargers, with focus quickly moving to charges of failing to assist a person in danger, drug offences and practicing medicine without a licence.
On Wednesday (28 January), a Paris court suspended Guy H's licence, handing him a 15-month prison sentence.
One of his surgeons, who had been standing in for him on the evening of the billionaire's death, was also given a 12-month suspended sentence for his involvement.
According to Le Parisien, the pair have been banned from practicing medicine and have been handed fines of €50,000 (£43,323) and €20,000 (£17,329).
Speaking to the publication, a source stated: "When investigators looked into the cause of death, the injection into the penis was quickly ruled out.
"The question remained why the surgeon had made an initial call for help at 8pm, before a second call, this time to the fire department, two hours later."
In court, the defendant claimed that the first call was made about Laniado's behaviour, with the diamond dealer insisting on having injections even though he was complaining of abdominal pain.
"It's easy to say in hindsight that the heart attack started there, but since the patient had an ulcer, it was impossible to consider a heart problem, and emergency services wouldn't have been called out for such a minor issue," the source added.
The surgeon tried to carry out CPR, but they couldn't save the patient's life, as the former's lawyer pointed out: "This cardiac incident could have happened anywhere, even in a pizzeria. Would the pizza maker have been prosecuted in that case?"
An anonymous Parisian practitioner claimed that the death did not come to them as a surprise, speaking about the plastic surgery industry as a whole.
"This will still cause a stir in a clinic that relies on its name, its techniques, and where the entire family works," they said, adding: "But this affair will surprise no one; in these upper echelons of cosmetic surgery, they often bend the rules."
Topics: Crime, Health, World News
Joshua Nair