Plastic surgeon ordered to pay €29,000 for buttock operation that went wrong

An Italian plastic surgeon was ordered to pay almost €29,000 in damages after a court ruled he had not delivered a ‘Brazilian butt’ as promised.

Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti ruled that surgeon Marcello Stella had been negligent in performing buttock augmentation surgery on his patient, Venerie Falzon.

Ms Falzon said she had consulted a local doctor to enquire about buttock augmentation surgery and was referred to Dr Stella who carried out the surgery on May 13, 2009 but the patient was not happy with the results. The surgeon carried out another operation, known as adipose tissue sculpture, the following July. According to Ms Falzon, she developed an infection after the surgery and Dr Stella performed further surgery at no cost 10 days later. Ms Falzon said that subsequently she went to England for more surgery.

Mr Justice Chetcuti said Dr Stella had assured Ms Falzon the surgery would be successful and she would be assured a ‘Brazilian butt’. However, the court-appointed medical expert found that the surgeon had been negligent.

The court awarded Ms Falzon €28,727 in damages.