Taipei agrees to look into dispute over missing breast

Taipei City’s Department of Health yesterday promised to look into a dispute over breast augmentation surgery after a middle-aged woman accused a well-known plastic surgeon of taking out gel implants without informing her.

The woman, surnamed Hung (洪), had breast augmentation surgery in July last year at the clinic of plastic surgeon Lee Chin-liang (李進良), who is the son-in-law of TV show host Hu Gua (胡瓜).

She followed Lee’s instructions and had another surgery to adjust the gel implants last month, but woke up from the six-hour surgery to find that the gel implants were gone.

“I did not ask [him] to remove the implants, and the doctor refused to explain the situation to me until several days after the surgery,” she told reporters yesterday at the Taipei City Council.

Hung also said Lee refused to sign an agreement to transfer her to another hospital, accusing him of medical negligence and saying she received terrible treatment at his clinic.

Accompanying Hung at the press conference, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lee Wen-ying (李文英) said Lee Chin-liang had already violated the Physicians Law (醫師法) by performing the surgery in July last year because the Department of Health did not allow gel implants until last October.

“If what Hung said is true, Lee also violated the law by failing to explain the details of the surgery to a patient. The city government should look into the case to protect consumers’ rights,” she said.

Chen Ching-mei (陳青梅), deputy director of the Taipei City Health Department’s medical management office, said the department would look into the case and hold negotiations between Hung and Lee Chin-liang to solve the dispute.

Lee Chin-liang dismissed Hung’s accusations, saying he took out the gel implants because Hung failed to massage her breasts after surgery, causing the implants to contract.

He further accused Hung of extorting NT$12 million (US$370,000) from him in the dispute. Hung denied the accusations, saying she would bring the case to court if Lee Chin-liang refuses to apologize.