Liposuction with Michael F Chiaramonte, review: Charlatan Alert: Beware of FAKE positive nline reviews for Dr. Michael Chiaramonte 2

Oh dear GOD. Thank you SO VERY much for posting this! I was about to make a consultation with this doctor, but before I did I decided I'd do a little more online searching, digging deeper, after I read this month's Consumer Reports issue; "What You Don't Know About Your Doctor Could Kill You!". It was adamant that you should not trust all the positive reviews. Indeed, that is true b/c the Plastic Surgeon that performed 2 failed surgeries on me, Dr. Larry Lickstein, all of a sudden had many positive interviews after myself and 3 other women posted negative ones on Realself.com. I knew that 2 of the positive reviews were from his own nurses (they posted their first initial and complete last names, and one even posted a picture of herself-I had their business cards too) which is a violation of Realself's policy. I reported them and their reviews were removed. One of them, Missy, was even slamming a former patient who had posted a negative review about him, saying she was "crazy". I was so pissed. Now he's moved to another practice in the next state (yet again) and even though he is new there (didn't even have his license to practice in VA until very recently) all of a sudden on this Dr. Bitar's website they are heralding Lickstein's arrival like its the second coming of Christ. And whadda ya know, suddenly many, many positive reviews. Sickening! I am SO sorry for what you've gone through. I hope you are doing at least a little better. What a horrible thing you've been through. From other blogs I've read from patients who've had doctors F them up and tried to sue them (and rightly so) it has been a NIGHTMARE for them. From what I understand from the CR article these Doctors that are reported to the medical board-well, those complaints are reviewed by...other Doctors! The Fox guarding the henhouse! Disgusting. What you went through was totally preventable. And to tell you he would redo your surgery for a FEE, seriously? What a p**ck. Thank you for saving me from this guy. You and the other reviewer on here!

I also learned the hard way that Dr Chiramonte's "excellent reputation" was nothing more than a bunch of smoke and mirrors put up by him and his staff. I almost died from an infection after my tummy tuck/"bella body" procedure. Every concern of mine was dismissed as "thats normal" and "give it time"! He didnt even tell me that I had a severe staph infection but instead described it as "a little infection" and sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics and then proceeded to take his vacation! My staph infection was resistant to the antibiotics he prescribed and escalated to the point that so much puss accumulated in my abdomen it physically forced my drainage tube to pop out! When I called his nurse that he left in charge while he was on his family vacation because I was extremely concerned that my drainage tube popped out on top of the fact that I had a fever she did not contact the doctor and told me that my drainage tube probably popped out because "it was time and no longer necessary". When I tried to contact her again because my symptoms were worsening she did not take my call and put me to voicemail because as she later explained to me she was "at the movies with her daughter"! I writhed in pain for several days and only when a good friend of mine came by to visit me because she was concerned about me because I wouldn't even answer the phone because I was in such severe pain and she insisted on taking me to the hospital that I found out that not only were the antibiotics prescribed not effective but that I had enough puss from my infection inside my abdomen to "fill an entire can of soda". I was rushed into emergency surgery and told that had my friend my insisted I go to the hospital, my infection would have entered my bloodstream within 24 hours and possibly killed me! For the next few months I was in and out of the hospital because the staph infection that I had was resistant to many of the antibiotics that were being administered. I was put on a variety of very powerful antibiotics and had to have a pic line in my arm for more than a month. All the while Dr. Chiramonte behaved as if this was no big deal and kept reassuring me that I was healing wonderfully (this was said to me after he returned from his vacation with a nice tan of course!) It has been about five years since the whole nightmarish ordeal, I am thankful to be alive but I still suffer long-lasting painful consequences for my decision to hire doctor Chiramonte. My upper abdomen has been swollen and protruding since immediately after my surgery years ago. I mentioned it to him several times and always received the same response "I was healing nicely and it was just swelling that would eventually go away" I went away and to this day I look like I'm about nine months pregnant due to this upper abdomen swelling. It is very uncomfortable and and made it extremely difficult for me to even breathe. For the first few years it was hard for me to even eat without experiencing pain and difficulty catching my breath. I have researched this swollen upper abdomen issue and apparently it is a common issue for many other people who have undergone tummy tucks. Hopefully my story will reach someone who may be considering him for their plastic surgery and steer clear of him. I had fully intended on suing and was told by a very reputable attorney and close family friend that I had a solid case and he encouraged me to allow him to represent me in court. The only reason Dr. Chiramonte was spared that lawsuit was because my attorney asked me to document everything and unfortunately I was so overwhelmed with the excruciatingly painful and long healing process (that included at least 4 repeat hospitalizations) I didn't have it in me to write everything down as I was suffering on my long road to recovery. Choosing him as my surgeon was the biggest and most painful mistake of my entire life.