A leading plastic surgeon dubbed “the maestro of the nose” in France has been suspended after patients complained he had 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 peers and was also respected internationally by fellow surgeons.
However, in 2023, Gerbault was banned for two years from practicing after patients said they underwent cosmetic surgery that left them “mutilated”, according to an investigation by French magazine Le Parisien.
It comes after a female patient, who had a nose job by Gerbault in August 2020 at his Paris clinic, 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 not get air into her left nostril and was unable to blow her nose.
The woman filed a complaint against Gerbault along with another patient with the medical ethics commission, resulting in the doctor receiving a two-year ban.
Meanwhile, a number of other patients have filed legal complaints against the plastic surgeon.
Another woman said she “lost all taste for life” after she was reportedly left with “a big 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 left their noses looking like ‘potatoes’.
His son Nicholas was also given a one-year suspended sentence and fined €8,000 after he and a co-director of a cosmetic surgery PR firm were found guilty of trying to defame a rival surgeon.
After a second operation by Gerbault, the woman ended up with “a piece of cartilage sticking out” after her face was “butchered” by the doctor, requiring reconstructive surgery in Italy.
Gerbault appealed the ban and claimed he is the victim of a smear campaign by a rival plastic surgeon.
According to the Cosmetic Surgery Paris website’s biography for Gerbault, he is currently “a professor of the International Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery and trains surgeons in current rhinoplasty techniques in Paris every month.”
However, Le Parisien reported that Gerbault allegedly continued to operate illegally at a Paris clinic, with France’s General Medical Council filing a complaint against the surgeon for violating the ban.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a £24,000 fine.
When asked by the French newspaper, Gerbault said he was spotting, stating that “these patients are all connected and the complaints are strictly the same. It is obvious that a colleague is helping them, which is extremely serious and unprofessional.”
It comes after the surgeon was involved 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 rhinoplasty with a mirror in her hand is unhappy
Gerbault was given a six-month suspended prison sentence and a €5,000 fine.
His son Nicholas also received a one-year suspended prison sentence and an €8,000 fine after he and a co-director of a cosmetic surgery PR firm were found guilty of trying to smear Larry with negative fake Google reviews.
MailOnline has contacted Gerbault for comment.
