Please stay away from this doctor!

Treatment Provider

Provider Review

• 25 Jan 2017

I did a breast lift with textured 500cc implants on Nov 2015. My initial result was great. Everything looked wonderful. Three weeks post-op I started to experience a rash that ran along the lateral sides of both breasts. With Dr. Leverett’s recommendations, I underwent an MRI and also a skin biopsy, neither tests resulted in any concrete diagnosis. This started my weekly to bi-monthly visits to the doctor’s office. At first the staff and Dr. Leverett were great, telling me that they were going to “hold my hand” through this whole thing and don’t worry that he, Dr. Leverett, would make sure I got back to my initial great result. Things went from bad to worse. Due to a suture not properly healing my left implant became exposed. I was devastated. Again, I was told the office would help me and that Dr. Leverett would replace the left implant and waive his surgical fee and that his office would really work on my behalf with the implant company. Of course, I still needed to pay for all the operating costs, but at least that was something. I underwent a second surgery for the removal which went fine. At this point I was still being told that there was no infection and that the doctor had really no idea why/how this could happen. His only explanation was “a case of the bad lucks.” On 2/22/16 I got an estimate from the office manager for what the re-implant procedure would be. (See photo) One month later, I was back in his office. The right breast was swollen and distorted. It was determined that the right implant needed to be taken out. Things really started to change. The atmosphere of “we are going to hold your hand” stopped. I was a nuisance that just kept showing up. There was talk of it being my fault—auto immune disease, physical activity. None of which added up. The office manager then printed up a “new” estimate for me (see above). If I wanted to get my implants re-done the office would charge me the same amount as if I was a new patient. I was floored. How could this be? The office manager proceeded to tell me that this was already my 3rd surgery and that Dr. Leverett couldn’t afford to comp his surgical fees any more. What? The first surgery I paid cash up front and in full. The second and third was only 45 min of his time for the REMOVAL of his work. Both times I paid all the other surgical fees included. So now, I’m being told that Dr. just can’t afford to do one more surgery as if I were some charity case they had taken on. Now, after paying over 10k, I am stuck with breasts that are even smaller and droopier than what I initially went into his office with. If I want to get this fix I need to spend another 6k for another doctor to finish what Dr. Leverett started. My conclusion: Please stay away from Dr. Leverett and his staff. I don’t believe that what he did would be considered malpractice, but I do believe abandoning his patient and revoking his original estimate once things got complicated is unethical. And yes, I will be filing a complaint against him with the board. Another thing, please be aware of his “event special” pricing. I thought I was getting a great deal. In retrospect, I’ll end up paying almost double. If any doctor has to discount his work in order to bring in clients after he’s been in practice for over 20 years than there is something wrong. A good doctor stands behind his work and never feels the need to discount his services because his patients will refer their friends. I definitely will be telling all my friends and patients about Dr. Leverett, but you can be sure it won’t be a recommendation. UPDATE: I wanted to update you with some information that I believe is relevant to my case. On 12/22/16 I underwent another breast augmentation with Dr. Spies. I was implanted with smooth Sientra implants. As of 5weeks post-op everything looks great, no rash, no complications. During this process, Dr. Spies gave me an explanation as to why the previous implants didn’t work. Dr. Spies reviewed all my medical history. He believes I did have an infection, per the lab reports (copies of all paperwork previously sent), and after reading up on product information of the textured implants, he stated that textured implants have an increased chance of fluid retention around the implant. Though this is rare, I believe this explains what happened to me. There was no way, for either Dr. Leverett or I, to know I’d be one of the few patients to experience this complication. I understand that’s one of the risks involved. But I do hold Dr. Leverett responsible for the following reasons: When the rash first appeared on 1/14/16 along both breasts, and after the evidence of increased fluid around both breasts on the MRI, Dr. Leverett should have already been aware of the rare, but possible, risks for textured implants and advised me as such. When the first implant became exposed and needed to be removed, my husband and I specifically asked for his expert recommendation on removal of the right implant. Dr. Leverett assured me that the right implant was fine/healthy and there was no medical reason for the implant to be removed, and that if I opted for removal it would strictly be for cosmetic reasons. This was not the case. The second implant should have been removed at the same time for the following reasons: 1. Increasing or large fluid collections are indicative of significant bacterial contamination. 2. Neither breast ever softened. Both breasts remained “rock hard” and never “dropped” even after months of massaging them per office instructions. I believe this was due to the fluid collection which Dr. Leverett should have been aware of. 3. The rash was still present on the right breast the whole time, indicating something was wrong. For these reasons, I believe Dr. Leverett was negligent by not knowing or informing me of all the risks and side effects associated with textured implants. Because of this, I underwent months of embarrassment and inconvenience from having one breast with an implant and one breast without. Also, for the months of pain and discomfort with the right breast as the fluid continued to increase to the point that I had to wear an underwire bra 24 hrs just to alleviate the pain. Not to mention, for the additional costs of all the medical expenses associated with the third surgery and the un-planned, un-paid time off of work. Even after the third surgery, when 350cc of fluid had to be drained, Dr. Leverett still “had no clue” as to why this happened and continued to chalk it up to the “case of the bad lucks.” This is not acceptable. How was I supposed to go forward and “fix” my breasts, that were now significantly lopsided and had severe amounts of scar tissue, if I had no idea what caused the problem in the first place? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that another plastic surgeon, with the same number of years in practice, was able to tell me the cause of the failed implants right away. Before going to Dr. Leverett my breasts were very symmetrical. For the 2nd augmentation surgery, Dr. Spies needed to put in smaller and different sized implants for each breast because of the amount of scar tissue and the considerable difference in size between my breasts. So yes, Dr. Leverett’s negligence caused permanent damage to my body. This was not just a “case of the bad lucks.”