A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon testified Friday that a medical device company salesman repeatedly pressured him to buy a laser device to remove cellulite and finally convinced him to make the purchase in 2012 with assurances that it was FDA-approved.
Dr. Stuart Linder later used the Cynosure Inc. device for the first time on his office head, Adriana Diaz, in 2013. But instead of eliminating the dimpling of Diaz’s skin, she was left with burn marks and a painful seroma, a pocket of clear fluid that sometimes develops in the body after surgery, according to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought by Linder and Diaz against Cynosure and salesman Kristopher Huston in October 2014.
Linder was the first witness in the jury trial of the suit. He said Huston warned him that without the $200,000-plus machine, other plastic surgeons in the area would have a huge advantage.
“You have to be competitive with the rest of these guys in Beverly HIlls,” Huston told Linder, according to the surgeon. “I did need to be competitive with these neighbors.”
Linder said he had repeatedly turned down Huston’s prior sales pitches because the Cynosure representative said the machine was FDA-cleared, but not approved.
“If it was not FDA-approved, I did not want it,” Linder said.
The doctor said the turning point came when Huston insisted the device had finally attained FDA approval.
“I completely relied on what he told me,” Linder said.
According to Linder’s court papers, the machine actually was not approved by the FDA.
Linder said he asked if he could try out the machine before deciding whether to buy it, but that Huston turned him down.
“I had to purchase the machine in full before we could use it,” Linder said.
Huston said about two to three patients could be treated for cellulite with the device weekly at a cost of $6,000 to $8,000 per person, according to Linder.
Huston also suggested that Linder, who has made frequent television appearances, help market the machine on “The Dr. Oz Show,” Linder testified.
Linder said the machine was the single most expensive medical device he ever bought.
But attorney Karin Curtis, on behalf of Cynosure and Huston, said the device is safe and that Linder misused it. She said Linder did not follow instruction in using the machine and took too many risks.
Linder also has been on such shows as “The View” and “The Doctors.” He said he is not paid for his appearances.
“The number one reason I do TV is to educate,” Linder said.