Belo group sued over alleged botched surgery

A Filipino-American nurse has filed a complaint against the Belo Medical Group over an alleged botched skin tightening procedure done on her, a television report said Wednesday. Aside from suing the medical firm for reckless imprudence resulting in physical injuries, complainant Layla Palaganas is also seeking for the revocation of licenses of her attending physician, Dra. Jennifer Sison De Leon, and the company’s proprietress, popular celebrity surgeon Dra. Vicky Belo. In a report on QTV’s “News on Q," Palaganas said the treatment, which was called Thermage, had caused deep scars on her face which she said had affected her social life. “Malalalim ‘yung mga peklat na hindi na mare-remendyuhan [The scars were so deep and they can not be remedied]," she told reporter Connie Sison in an interview. Palaganas said she paid P120,000 for the treatment, which was done in the Makati branch of the Belo Medical Group. In her complaint, which was filed before the Makati Prosecutor’s Office last Tuesday, Palaganas is seeking P20 million in moral damages from the Belo Group, the report said. On Wednesday, Palaganas and her lawyers went to the Department of Health (DOH) to personally ask for the revocation of the license to operate of the Belo clinic in Makati City, after which they trooped to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to request for the revocation of the licenses of Belo and De Leon. Palaganas said she had tried contacting De Leon through e-mail, but the surgeon allegedly did not respond. “We can only hope for the best that there would be justice in the case of our client," said Atty. Arnold Naval, one of Palaganas’ lawyers. The Belo group on the other hand dismissed the case filed by Palaganas. In a separate interview, Belo group’s lawyer, Raymond Fortun, described the case as “sham proceedings," saying they even offered to see Palaganas again but the supposed victim allegedly snubbed them. Fortun said it was impossible for Palaganas’ scars to be caused by the Thermage procedure. “Anybody who has undergone Thermage will attest that it is a non-invasive procedure, meaning it is not like liposuction wherein the surgeon would use a scalpel to break the skin," Fortun said. The two camps are set to square off at the Makati Prosecutor’s Office on March 3, the report said. - GMANews.TV