A Park Avenue plastic surgeon routinely violated the health code – and broke the law – by telling staff to flush fat from liposuctions down the toilet, reusing dirty medical instruments and handing out goody bags containing Vicodin, a former employee claims in a new lawsuit against the doctor.
Ex-office assistant Christine Palumbo, of Westchester, says in her Manhattan Supreme Court suit that she was fired by Dr. Lopa Gupta, of Park Ave. Aesthetics, after complaining about the clinic’s unsanitary and unethical practices.
Palumbo, who was hired last February, was asked to dispose of the lipo fat by flushing it down the toilet because medical waste disposal companies were too pricey, the suit alleges.
Gupta also allegedly told Palumbo to clean dirty sutures and laser tips so she could use them on a second patient. When Palumbo protested about the painkiller-filled goody bags that the doc gave to patients — whom she allowed to drive home after procedures — the surgeon told her she wasn’t a “team player,” the suit says.
She was then fired in April for her “strong personality,” according to court papers.
But the Stanford University-trained doc’s lawyer, Louis Jakub, called Palumbo a “disgruntled former employee” who was fired for being “hostile” to patients and other staffers.
Jakub called the stomach-churning allegations false and vowed to counter-sue Palumbo for defamation.