Group Of Women Sue Plastic Surgeon After Their Nude Before And After Photos Appear Online
St. Louis, Missouri – A group of 10 women have banded together to sue their plastic surgeon after discovering their nude before and after plastic surgery photos were published online – labeled with their names. The women claim they signed waivers granting the St. Louis plastic surgeon permission to share their photos with the provision the images would be used anonymously.
Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Michele Koo is not accepting the blame for the use of the nude breast augmentation plastic surgery before and after photo publication. Dr. Koo blames the company which runs her website for allowing patient’s names to be attached to the nude breast photos, according to the Daily Mail.
MedNet Technologies Inc. of Long Island, New York manages Dr. Michele Koo’s website as well as similar sites for more than 2,500 doctors worldwide. The St. Louis plastic surgeon blames the provider for failing to manage her website in a “competent and professional manner,” according to lawsuit court filings. MedNet is claiming legal immunity under the Communications Decency Act. MedNet claims the act protects them as a third party supplier from information which they claim was Dr. Koo’s responsibility to protect.
The group of 10 St. Louis women range in age from 21 to 58. Some of Dr. Michele Koo’s patients accidentally came across the plastic surgery breast implant photos while doing an Internet search for their own names. The women fear the use of identified nude photos could be more widespread. The 10 lawsuits levied against the Kirkwood cosmetic surgeon focuses on complaints of negligence.
Before and after photos of breast enhancement patients were routinely used as a marketing tool for Dr. Koo’s medical clinic. Although the names of the patients do not immediately appear next to the images of their breasts before the augmentation surgery and after, the names are embedded to the photo file database, enabling identification to show up during Internet searches. The 10 St. Louis women suing Dr. Michele Koo for sharing their labeled breast photos online were reportedly quite shocked to see the images pop up while “Googling” their own names for work or identity theft protection purposes online, according to the St. Louis Dispatch.
