Unlicensed plastic surgeon has sentence upheld

The two-month jail sentence of an unlicensed plastic surgeon who operated on patients from his kitchen table is upheld by an appeal court.

DUBAI // The two-month jail sentence of an unlicensed plastic surgeon who operated on patients from his kitchen table has been upheld by an appeal court. SM was convicted of life endangerment after performing an illegal surgical procedure on a 35-year-old Jordanian woman, identified as A A. He administered two botox injections to A A's forehead. S M, a 40-year-old American, had appealed against the two-month prison sentence on the grounds he had many years of experience in the US and his patient's life was not in danger. Today, the Dubai Court of Appeal upheld his sentence. S M was arrested in February after an investigation by the Dubai Health Authority and Dubai Police revealed he was posing as the respected US plastic surgeon Dr Steven Hopping and performing surgeries on his kitchen table. He arrived in the country in 2007 after his US medical licence was revoked in 2004. S M was not a licensed practitioner in the UAE. He is also awaiting another judgement in an appeal for harsher sentencing brought by the public prosecutor. SM was sentenced by a lower court to two months in prison for impersonation and life endangerment - a charge brought against him by the real Dr Steven Hopping. S M denied the charges and the case is ongoing. [e-mail]