Woman warns of surgery hell

A Hsinchu County woman, left partially bald after botched plastic surgery, held a press conference yesterday to warn others about the potential dangers of cosmetic surgery.

Accompanied by DPP Taipei City Councilor Ko Chin-sheng (柯景昇), Chen Hsiu-chu (陳秀珠) told reporters yesterday that she has had trouble sleeping and has become suicidal over the hair-loss problem.

Chen blamed the problem on plastic surgery performed by Chang Yen-lu (張衍爐) of the Taipei-based Toronto Plastic Surgery Clinic in March.

"I can not help but cry when I see myself in the mirror," said Chen, 48, wearing dark sunglasses and a blue baseball cap. "I'm so depressed that I want to kill myself."

Chen's daughter, Hsu Shu-chen (許淑貞), said her mother had been tricked into having a face-lift instead of a liposuction on her eyelids, which was her original plan.

"[Chang] talked her into having a face lift, which costs a lot more. While liposuction costs NT$10,000, a face lift costs NT$70,000," Hsu said.

A few days after the surgery, Hsu said, Chen began to lose hair on the top and both sides of her head.

"When my mother told the doctor about the problem, he gave her a bottle of hair restorer and told her to buy a wig," Hsu said. "And when she told him she was depressed over the hair loss and had trouble sleeping, he mailed her sleeping pills."

Chen Wu-tsai (陳武財), the woman's older brother, said he is upset about how Chang has handled the matter.

"He hasn't tried to solve the problem except for blaming it on my sister's bad luck. So much for his professionalism," he said.

Chen Hsu-hsun (陳旭勳), third section chief of the city's Bureau of Health, said that all the bureau can do is to help mediate between the two parties.

"The first mediation ended in fiasco. In addition, Chang, a certified surgeon, has filed a defamation charge against Ms Chen," he said.

Though Chang was not present at yesterday's press conference, he issued a written statement to the media saying he had done nothing wrong.

"I believe that the legal system will eventually prove my innocence, since the matter now has become a legal issue," the statement said.

"I didn't show up at the press conference because I refused to play in the game of `whistle-blower.' She has lied to the media about what happened," he claimed in the statement.

"The photos shown in the latest issue of Next magazine and the June 28 news footage of the Chinese Television Company can prove that she lied about her hair-loss problem."

The statement also said that Chen's hair-loss problem is temporary and may have resulted from stress.

Chang later told the Taipei Times over the telephone that the Chen's accusations were motivated by money.

"She had originally asked me to pay her NT$12 million in compensation and dropped the sum to NT$4.6 million," he said.