Federal prosecutors sued a Manhattan plastic surgeon on Wednesday for refusing to do a breast reduction on a 50-year-old man just because he has HIV, court papers state.
The feds brought the civil rights lawsuit against Advanced Cosmetic Surgery on the Upper East Side because Dr. Emmanuel Asare told him he would not operate on his swollen chest, which was inflamed by either his cancer or his anti-HIV medications, according to the lawsuit.
After the examination, “Dr. Asare then stated it was the policy of Advanced Cosmetic not to treat those living with HIV,” the lawsuit states.
“[The man] noted that such a refusal was illegal … [He] and Dr. Asare had an argument regarding the propriety of [the office]’s policy.”
The lawsuit says Advanced Cosmetic refused to treat at least two other people because they had HIV.
“Medical providers are not free under the law simply to refuse their services to a person with a serious medical condition like HIV,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
“Individuals with disabilities are entitled to the same medical services as everyone else, and there can be no room in the medical profession for the kind of discrimination alleged in this lawsuit.”
Advanced Cosmetic defended themselves in a letter to prosecutors, saying that they only do elective plastic surgeries and all their patients “should be in healthy condition.”