2 Camarillo Men Fined in Cosmetic Surgeries

Two Camarillo dentists have been ordered to pay nearly $130,000 in fines for performing cosmetic plastic surgery without proper medical licenses, authorities said Wednesday.

Michael Morrissette and David Baker, both 46 and partners at Courtyard Facial and Oral Surgery on Las Posas Road, are licensed oral surgeons but received medical degrees from an Internet company. Such degrees are not valid in California, authorities said.

Prosecutors said the dentists performed eye-area procedures and nose jobs, which they were not legally allowed to do, on about five patients. Additionally, they misrepresented themselves as medical doctors in advertisements, a violation of the state’s unfair competition laws, prosecutors said.

“They were holding themselves out as medical doctors in a number of ways -- in telephone books, in brochures in their offices,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Wold.

Morrissette and Baker agreed to the settlement, ending a civil case brought against them by the county. As part of the deal, the dentists have removed all medical doctor references from their advertising.