In a “emergency action,” the Colorado Medical Board has once again suspended the medical license of renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Geoffrey Kim after a second breast augmentation procedure that left a patient in cardiac arrest.
Even yet, Kim did not dial 911 or request an ambulance when the patient “flatlined.”
Kim became well-known following the 2019 incident involving 18-year-old Emmalyn Nguyen, who went into cardiac arrest while having breast augmentation surgery at his Greenwood Village facility. Kim waited to contact for assistance for about five hours following Nguyen’s cardiac arrest, it was discovered.
After then, she continued to exist in a “minimally conscious state” until eventually dying from related medical issues.
In 2023, Kim was found guilty of attempted reckless manslaughter and blockage of telephone service in connection with this crime. As a result, the family of Nguyen received a $1 million monetary settlement, probation, and a short jail sentence.
The state medical board permitted Kim to resume his practice for a few months after his conviction as long as he disclosed his criminal history to his patients. But after his sentencing in the Nguyen case, his medical license was suspended in November 2023.
The Colorado Medical Board has now acted once more in response to an occurrence that happened in October 2020. In accordance with a June 18, 2024 suspension order, the board investigated a case in which Kim, who was still under probation for the Nguyen case, performed a breast augmentation treatment on a different female patient who experienced cardiac arrest.
The board discovered that after the patient’s cardiac arrest, emergency procedures were started right away, and she eventually lived and was described as stable.
The board, however, took issue with Kim for not dialing 911 and for the patient to be driven to the hospital in a private vehicle, which they considered to be a major departure from the accepted standard of care. They also criticized Kim for her poor record-keeping and management of the patient’s discharge.
Read Also:Â Missouri Man Kills Woman After Torturing Her in Basement Dungeon, Discards Body in Barrel
Kim’s lawyer declined to comment in response to questions, and Sarah Werner of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies clarified that the board’s investigation into the 2020 issue was complaint-driven, meaning it took place years after the incident.
Kim’s medical license is suspended effective immediately “until resolution of this matter,” according to the medical board’s statement.
The medical board took action in a 2020 instance about four years after the incident, as detailed by Sarah Werner, deputy director for Policy and Communications at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.
She said, “because the board has, like all licensing boards, a complaint-driven process, the board is often in the position of reviewing care that may have occurred some years prior to the opening of the board’s case and investigation.”
