A top plastic surgeon dubbed ‘the nose maestro’ in France was suspended after patients complained he turned their noses into ‘potatoes’, it was revealed on Friday.
Olivier Gerbault, 58, who claims to have invented the ‘ultrasonic’ rhinoplasty technique, was adored by his patients and colleagues and was also respected on the international stage by other fellow surgeons.
But in 2023, Gerbault was banned from his practice for two years after patients said they had undergone cosmetic surgery that left them “disfigured”, according to an investigation by French newspaper Le Parisien.
It comes after a female patient, who received a rhinoplasty from Gerbault at his Paris clinic in August 2020, claimed she woke up from the procedure with a ‘long, crooked, fat’ nose that ‘looked like a potato’.
The patient also claimed that she could no longer get air through her left nostril and could not blow her nose.
The woman, along with another patient, filed a complaint against Gerbault with the medical ethics committee, which resulted in a two-year suspension for the doctor.
Meanwhile, a series of other patients have filed legal complaints against the cosmetic surgeon.
Another female patient said she “lost all taste for life” after reportedly being left with a “large potato” in the place of her nose, which became infected and caused her nostrils to collapse.
Renowned French plastic surgeon Olivier Gerbault has been banned from practicing after patients complained he made their noses look like ‘potatoes’
His son Nicolas was also given a one-year suspended sentence and an €8,000 fine after he and a co-director of a cosmetic surgery PR company were found guilty of trying to smear a rival surgeon
After a second operation by Gerbault, the woman was left with “a piece of cartilage sticking out” after her face was “butchered” by the doctor, forcing her to undergo reconstructive surgery in Italy.
Gerbault has appealed the ban, claiming he is the victim of a smear campaign by a rival plastic surgeon.
According to Gerbault’s biography from the Cosmetic Surgery Paris website, he is currently “a professor of the International Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery and trains surgeons monthly in Paris in current rhinoplasty techniques.”
But Le Parisien has reported that Gerbault is said to have continued to operate illegally at a clinic in Paris, with the French General Medical Council filing a complaint against the surgeon for ignoring the ban.
The charge carries a prison sentence of up to two years and the equivalent of a £24,000 fine.
When questioned by the French newspaper, Gerbault said he is being smeared, stating that “these patients are all connected and the complaints are strictly the same.” It is clear that they are being helped by a colleague, which is very serious and unprofessional.’
It comes after the surgeon was embroiled in a PR battle with rival surgeon Nicolas Lari.
In March 2023, the Marseille criminal court found Gerbault guilty of ‘attempted blackmail’ against 43-year-old Lari.
Stock Image: A young woman with a bandage on her nose after a rhinoplasty with a mirror in her hand is dissatisfied
Gerbault was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of six months and a fine of 5,000 euros.
His son Nicolas was also given a one-year suspended sentence and an €8,000 fine after he and a co-director of a cosmetic surgery PR company were found guilty of smearing Lari with negative fictional Google reviews.
MailOnline has contacted Gerbault for comment.