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Woman shares story of botched plastic surgery from a Vegas doctor

It's something you never want to experience a surgery gone wrong. A local Med spa doctor now has a suspended medical license after one young woman takes her horrific story to the state board.

The woman whose story, prompted the state's action talked exclusively to Action News. It's a story we've been following for over a month. We want you to know, some of the pictures you are about to see, are graphic.

Vanessa doesn't want to share her last name, or her face, but she wants you to hear her story, one that all began with a simple web search. The Skin Body Institute, a Med spa in Las Vegas advertising free makeovers online.

"They said congratulations you've made it," said Vanessa.

Vanessa had just won the cosmetic surgery of her choice, a breast augmentation.

"(It was) something I had been looking forward for years and years and now it was finally happening," explained Vanessa.

She met with the medical director and owner of the Skin Body Institute, Dr. Sean Su.

He would perform her surgery. Within a week, he scheduled the procedure and what happened next, Vanessa describes as a nightmare.

"It was scary. I was under a lot of pain," said Vanessa.

The surgery took place on April 16th right in the doctor's office, not in a surgery center and under local, not general anesthesia, meaning Vanessa was awake for the entire procedure.

"I was feeling his fingers just pulling on the skin, stretching the skin I could feel his fingers rubbing on my rib cage. I was moaning, I was crying and all they would do is keep on giving me drugs " said Vanessa.

She says Dr. Su reprimanded her for complaining.

"He would stop and say Vanessa you need to let me finish, I can't finish my work if you're crying, you need to stop crying. I couldn't though I was in pain," said Vanessa.

Just weeks later, the implant was exposed and she says Dr. Su told her she needed another surgery.

"I have three children. That made me very very scared for my life," said Vanessa.

So she was put under local anesthesia again for another 10 hours. 

"I felt whenever he was stitching, I felt everything. At this point I am scared to death because I know that this is not what I'm supposed to be feeling," said Vanessa.

Two weeks later Vanessa checked into a local emergency room.

"The nurses and the doctors would say, this looks like a three year old did it, this doesn't look right," said Vanessa.

"We always say the Hippocratic oath, first do no harm and in this case obviously great harm was done," said Dr. Tracy Hankins.

Dr. Tracy Hankins and his business partner, Dr. Samuel Sohn are the plastic surgeons who saw Vanessa at the ER and eventually removed the implants. The doctors say Dr. Su made a ten centimeter incision under her breast, which should've been only 2 to 3 centimeters.

They say the implant was also deflated, and still exposed. The doctors tell us they weren't just shocked by the results but how Vanessa says the procedure was performed.

"I've done over a ten year period probably 2,000 breast augmentations and to attempt to put a breast implant in under the muscle, under local anesthesia, I wouldn't even try," said Dr. Hankins.

When we found out about Vanessa's case, we started investigating. Shortly after, on July 2nd, this cease and desist letter was sent to Dr. Su from the Nevada State Health Division, demanding he stop performing surgeries and calling his medspa an "unlicensed surgical center."

The Skin Body Institute was allowed to stay open because Dr. Su still had an active medical license. But, earlier this week, his license was suspended by the State Board of medical examiners.

"Just the emotional, the emotional trauma, emotional stress, I don't wish it upon anybody," said Vanessa.

They cited Vanessa's case as evidence. Dr. Su's half of the Skin Body Institute is no longer operating, but his wife's side, where she runs a dental practice remains in business.

"I had gone to his website and I saw that he was state board certified," said Vanessa.

Dr. Su is board certified but not in plastic surgery. He's a board certified family doctor.

The Skin Body Institute web site lists him as an associate member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and the American Academy of Cosmetic Physicians, but that doesn't make him a surgeon.

According to both those academies, the only requirements to be an associate is to have an active medical license and pay a fee.

"Stop harming other women who are innocently or naively coming to these doctors not realizing that their life could be at risk," said Vanessa.

We tried contacting Dr. Su several times but he hasn't returned our calls. So we went down to his office. Staff told us he was unavailable and his wife asked us to leave.

As for Vanessa, she still has another surgery to look forward to and it's not going to be easy after an experience that changed her life.

"Even with the implants out, my breasts are not the same 46 the right side is, is deformed in a way even reconstruction is going to be difficult," said Vanessa. 

Vanessa is pursuing legal action. As for Dr. Su, this is the first time the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners has suspended a doctor's license before completing an investigation and filing charges.