Complaint Review: Berman Skin Institute

Widespread laser damage (such as premature aging and disfiguring of lips) occurred to my face when I sought treatment for an acne spot at Advanced Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology in Stateline, NV.  They consequently referred me to a cosmetic surgeon.  I asked Dr. Eric Smith, working at the Berman Institute in California a good distance away from me, if he could help with facial changes and was told that he would look at my before-and-after laser photos (which the Stateline office never took as promised). Dr. Smith refused to take a look at the photos when I met with him and seemed very defensive.  He stated in my patient record that I weighed 133 pounds although I've never weighed that much in my entire life and no one in his office even weighed me. Still, he wrote that changing my weight "could alleviate the majority of [my] concerns" with the pronounced facial changes, which was not, and has not been the case, however.  He said the laser is safe but could provide no specific research. I subsequently found information from medical and health resources pointing to the dangers and risks of laser. Medical malpractice cover-ups and protection of unqualified and unethical people along with protection of money-making procedures continue.

Related complaints with regard to other organizations/people may already be filed on this ripoffreport.com website due to apparent widespread collusion in protecting doctors over consumers in this type of case.  Other organizations/names also of no or minimal help in my case were the Medical Board of Examiners in Nevada; the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the Better Business Bureaus [Reno, Nevada; Chicago, IL; Washington, D.C]; the Federation of State Medical Boards; JAMA-Dermatology; American Medical Experts, LLC.; Candella Corporation; Nevada Board of Cosmetology; media news sources associated with the 2004 investigative story on the Medical Board of Examiners for the state of Nevada; the American Board of Dermatology; Nevada senators; NV assemblywomen and assemblymen; Dr. Alan Anthony and Samantha Reith at Advanced Cosmetic Surgery & Dermatology in Stateline, NV, where the lasering occurred; Dr. Brett Coldiron, previous AAD President, who wrote the "Elephant in the Room of Dermatology" article about this very subject (who provided no response to me); and Dr. Jeffrey Dover of Brookline, MA, who also declined a response but who was quoted on the AAD website as saying "Where we see a problem [with lasering] is lack of oversight, education, knowledge, and judgment...If one of those is missing, there's a potential problem. If all four of those are missing, you're really asking for trouble" (www.aaa.org/monthly/2014/September/safety-first#all pages).

I hope this information helps other consumers in a similar position.