Facts

Plaintiff Yasmine Temraz underwent a breast augmentation in 2003, with documented breast implants sized at 420 cc bilaterally. These implants left her with breasts that were a D cup or a DD cup. After several years her breasts began to droop significantly, were asymmetric, and she alleged that they began to cause her significant back pain.

In early 2014, plaintiff sought out a consultation with defendant Arian Mowlavi, M.D. After meeting with Dr. Mowlavi Temraz agreed to undergo a mastopexy with breast implant exchange.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff sought consultation with defendant allegedly for the primary purpose of reducing her breast size to a C cup bilaterally. Plaintiff contended that the surgery performed by Dr. Mowlavi was substantially different from the procedure that she had requested and had consented to undergo, and the jury was instructed that they must find that Dr. Mowlavi was negligent if they found that he had performed a substantially different procedure.

Plaintiff contended that she met with defendant on four occasions pre-operatively, with her mother and with other family members, and agreed to undergo a mastopexy with breast implant exchange to address the drooping of her breasts, her asymmetry and to reduce the size of her breasts to a C cup bilaterally.

Dr. Mowlavi took the position, supported by his own medical records, that the patient was not asking to be reduced to a C cup, but rather asked to be made slightly smaller, which he interpreted to reflect a 20 percent reduction in size. The surgery was performed by Dr. Mowlavi on May 5, 2014 without complication. Within two to three days after surgery, Temraz felt that her breasts were actually larger rather than smaller and contacted the office of Dr. Mowlavi to inquire as to the size of her new breast implants. To her shock and dismay, Temraz discovered that Dr. Mowlavi had placed breast implants that were the same size or larger than the implants that had been placed in 2003.

Despite this discovery, Dr. Mowlavi assured the patient during her post-operative visits that her breasts were still swollen, that she needed to wait six months to see the final results, and that she would indeed eventually be smaller in her breast size than she was before surgery. When she confronted Dr. Mowlavi on Oct. 2, 2014 regarding the fact that her breasts were still larger than they had been before surgery, he terminated the physician-patient relationship.

Temraz subsequently underwent surgery by Dr. Robert Kessler to reduce her breast size by replacing her existing implants with markedly smaller implants, and professed at trial to be very happy with the results of that surgery.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended that plaintiff did not request nearly as substantial of a breast reduction as she had testified to in court, and pointed to the absence of any complaints of back pain in her medical records before that surgery by Dr. Mowlavi. Defendant contended that Temraz received exactly the surgical procedure described in the consent forms that she signed, and that Dr. Mowlavi had indeed reduced the size of her breasts significantly by removing breast tissue during the course of his surgery.

Defendant argued that plaintiff experienced significant weight gain in the months following surgery, thereby offsetting and masking the benefits of the surgery performed by Dr. Mowlavi.

Insurer

The Doctors Company

Damages

Plaintiff sought recovery of the cost of both surgeries that she underwent, totaling approximately $18,000. The jury was also asked to return an award of $120,000 in non-economic damages.

Injuries

Temraz claimed that she suffered extreme emotional distress in discovering that her surgeon had ignored her express wishes regarding the surgery to be performed, and in realizing that she had undergone her surgery for no reason at all. In order to obtain the benefits of the surgery she had sought, she was forced to incur the expense and pain of a second surgery by Dr. Robert Kessler.

Result

Defense verdict in favor of Dr. Mowlavi.

Deliberation

four hours

Poll

9-3 on the issue of negligence in favor of Dr. Mowlavi

Length

11 days