Doctor Agrees to Stop Doing Penile Surgery

Dr. Melvyn Rosenstein, perhaps the nation’s busiest practitioner of controversial penis enlargement operations, has been temporarily forced by the Medical Board of California to stop advertising or performing the risky surgeries.

The Medical Board moved against the Culver City urologist because of what it said was “an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare” posed by what are considered to be experimental surgical procedures performed by Rosenstein, who has advertised widely in newspapers.

Rosenstein, without admitting any fault, agreed to temporarily suspend the surgeries in an accord reached with the Medical Board and the attorney general’s office Jan. 26.

Both sides will appear before an administrative law judge later this week in a hearing that could ultimately lead to the suspension of Rosenstein’s medical license or some other form of disciplinary action.

Among the allegations against Rosenstein are claims that he made misleading statements regarding his ability to increase the length of penises, misrepresented the considerable risks involved in the operations and engaged in “grossly negligent medical practices.” Rosenstein, in performing the surgeries, reused surgical equipment without proper sterilization, the Medical Board alleges.

“Many of the patients are suffering not only complications, but also irreversible damage,” said Ron Joseph, the Medical Board’s executive director, in the petition to force Rosenstein to stop performing surgeries.

Rosenstein and his attorney could not be reached for comment Monday. The physician declined to speak to a reporter who visited his office on Friday. The office was open, but there were no patients in the waiting room. Rosenstein, a board-certified urologist, can continue to practice medicine as long as it does not involve invasive surgical procedures.

The state attorney general’s petition to suspend Rosenstein’s license contains case histories of three men who said their surgeries left them with intense pain, noticeable scars and loss of feeling.

The petition itself follows the filing of dozens of malpractice suits against Rosenstein by dissatisfied patients over the last several years.

Joseph referred to “an increasing number of medical malpractice lawsuits” against Rosenstein in seeking the immediate halt in the surgeon’s practice. Despite the malpractice suits, Joseph said Rosenstein “is continuing to perform cosmetic penile enhancement surgery upon ill-advised, misinformed patients at a rate of seven or eight surgeries a day.”

Rosenstein, who used a high-profile marketing campaign to develop a national practice with offices in several major cities, said during an interview with The Times in 1994 that he did 150 penile enlargement surgeries a month.

The surgeries involve the use of fat injections and the cutting of a ligament to enlarge or lengthen the penis. The cost is about $6,000.

The Medical Board, in its petition, said the fat injections often cause lumpiness and ugly scarring. Sometimes the surgeries actually lead to a decrease in size, the board said.

Attorney Keith Schulner, who is representing a dozen clients against Rosenstein in malpractice cases, said he counted 37 malpractice cases against the physician. The attorney said the number of injured patients was actually much higher, but many were refusing to get involved because they are “too embarrassed.”

He said the plaintiffs he represents range in age from the 20s to 60s and come from diverse backgrounds. “They are all very upset,” Schulner said in an interview.

“One problem a lot of people have is they don’t want to be seen naked, not by their wives, not by anyone,” Schulner said. “Their sex life is pretty much gone.”

The attorneys representing Rosenstein in the malpractice cases did not return a telephone call.

Dr. Mark Litwin, a professor of urology and public health at UCLA, said penile enlargement surgeries are generally considered experimental because it still has not been scientifically proven that they can be performed without serious side effects. “The risks are very real,” Litwin said.

“Most everyone at any major medical institution has seen at least a handful of disastrous complications from this procedure. Patients should approach it with the greatest of caution.”