Unqualified plastic surgeon guilty of killing three patients in botched liposuction operations
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A doctor with an ‘extreme indifference to human life’ has been convicted of killing three patients who died at his clinic after routine plastic surgery.
Peter Normann had only undergone six hours of liposuction training but insisted on offering the procedure to the public - with fatal consequences.
Two of his victims overdosed on anaesthesia during liposuction operations at his clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in which an unqualified massage therapist served as the assistant.
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'Extreme indifference to human life': Peter Normann was guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and one manslaughter
The third victim allegedly died of an embolism when her own body fat was re-injected into a vein by mistake.
All were wrongly intubated which starved them of oxygen and contributed to their deaths, the court heard.
Normann, 50, had never served residencies in plastic surgery or anaesthesiology yet carried out such procedures at his clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
He was also only qualified as an internist, a position different from that of a surgeon, and did not have the proper monitoring equipment and oxygen in case something went wrong.
When the massage therapist was unavailable Normann used a former restaurant worker as his assistant with no formal medical training, the court heard.
The doctor has now been convicted of two counts of second degree murder and one count of manslaughter.
First victim: Ralph Gonzalez died after visiting Normann for a routine liposuction procedure
He will be sentenced on August 19.
The hearing was told that Normann’s first victim was 33-year-old Ralph Gonzalez, from Scottsdale in Arizona, who came to see him in 2006 for routine liposuction.
During the operation the patient stopped breathing because he was given the wrong dose of a drug.
Normann then wrongly put the breathing tube down his esophagus instead of his trachea, depriving him of oxygen.
When paramedics arrived Normann refused to let them put the tube in properly and insisted on accompanying them to the hospital, the court was told.
One EMT technician had to threaten to break his arm to get it out.
Before the judge: Normann sitting in court on Tuesday awaiting to hear of his fate
The second victim was Alicia Santizo Blanco, 41, of Gilbert in Arizona, who died after undergoing a number of procedures at Normann’s hands.
They included liposuction, buttock reshaping and the repositioning of a breast implant.
The court was told that Normann injected the fat directly into Mrs Blanco’s vein which went to her lungs and killed her.
The doctor then put the breathing tube in her throat incorrectly, just as he had done with Mr Gonzalez.
Following this incident Normann agreed to a voluntary suspension of his licence and appointed homeopath Gary Page, who was not qualified to carry out liposuction.
He operated on Leslie Ann Ray, 53, from California, in July 2007 with no assistant, anaesthetist or monitor.
After the procedure, Mrs Ray experienced breathing problems while she was in the recovery room.
But when Normann went to help her he once again put the breathing tube down his patient’s esophagus.
According to the Arizona County Republic, the Arizona Deputy County Attorney Jeannette Gallagher told the court that a ‘combination of incompetence and arrogance in trying to cover up his (Normann’s) incompetence led to their deaths’.
She also said he had a ‘extreme indifference to human life’ and that the final death was due to a ‘conscious disregard of substantial and unjustified risk of death.’
Normann’s massage therapist has already admitted eight counts of unlawful practice of medicine and was last year jailed for five years.
During the trial, his lawyers claimed that the deaths were an accident as autopsy findings concluded.
After a day and a half of deliberation a jury disagreed and convicted him.
Doctor Found Guilty of 2nd Degree Murder, Manslaughter: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
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