State Files Suit to Suspend Doctor’s License, Claims Negligence in Cases

State officials filed a lawsuit seeking to suspend the medical license of Santa Ana plastic surgeon James Dean Tuesday, alleging he was negligent in the treatment of at least four women, including one who died from an infection after surgery in his office.

Dean, whose office is at 3620 S. Bristol St., already was under investigation by the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance when the woman, Marvis Ferber, died on Jan. 17, 1985, from an abdominal infection, according to the lawsuit filed by Deputy Atty. Gen. Alan Meth. Dean had performed a tummy tuck and hip reduction operation on Ferber, according to the suit.

Hearing Scheduled Today

Neither Dean nor his attorney was available for comment Tuesday.

A hearing is scheduled today before Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer on Meth’s request for a temporary restraining order prohibiting Dean from practicing medicine until a September hearing by the Medical Quality Assurance Board. At that hearing, Dean faces possible revocation of license, Meth said.

“There’s no smoking gun; we’re not saying the doctor’s treatment killed (Ferber),” Meth said. “But we are saying he failed to properly treat the infection which resulted from her surgery and that he didn’t use proper techniques.”

Meth added that his office wants Dean suspended pending the hearing because “we think he’s a danger to society. We don’t seek restraining orders against every doctor accused of negligence. But this is a serious case.”

According to allegations in the lawsuit, medical officials assert that another woman Dean treated last year faces “life-threatening” heart surgery because of complications from a tummy tuck and hip reduction surgery he performed on her. A third woman went into cardiac arrest in his office after Dean performed a “face peel,” according to the suit. A fourth woman faces reconstructive surgery on a breast following what state officials alleged was incompetent treatment by Dean.

None of the women were identified in the lawsuit.

The petition seeking the temporary restraining order claimed that Dean should not have performed plastic surgery on Ferber at his office. The petition alleges the surgery should have been performed in a hospital.

The lawsuit also alleged that Dean is not qualified to perform plastic surgery. Dean was licensed in 1963 to practice medicine and perform surgery. But the petition claimed he has not been certified by a national board of plastic surgeons.

State medical officials began investigating Dean about two years ago, Meth said. On Jan. 23, the board filed an administrative accusation against Dean, mostly alleging insurance fraud and improper billing to patients.

The board was unaware of Ferber’s death until after the administrative accusation had been filed, Meth said. A supplemental accusation will be filed to cover the Ferber death, the woman facing heart surgery and the woman facing reconstructive breast surgery, Meth said.

The petition claims that Dean performed plastic surgery on Ferber on Nov. 16, 1984, but that she went to see another doctor in December after complications developed. The physician performed surgery on her first at Fountain Valley Community Hospital on Dec. 6, then at a Humana Hospital on Jan. 7.

Died 10 Days Later

She died 10 days later of “multiple pulmonary emboli,” which state officials say were complications from the infection she developed from the plastic surgery.

The petition alleged that the second woman, who now faces heart surgery, became seriously ill when an infection following her plastic surgery last August entered her bloodstream and reached a heart valve. The petition alleged that Dean “failed to recognize complications” in her case and that he should have consulted with heart and lung specialists when giving her follow-up treatment.

The petition claimed that Dean should not have used sutures to close the wound left by surgery to a third woman, treated last July, but should have left the wound open. The petition also alleged Dean should have taken tissue from the woman’s breasts to a pathologist for diagnosis.