A Manhattan plastic surgeon has surrendered the license that allowed her to operate a posh Ridgefield office after health inspectors say they found animal droppings on equipment, trash cans full of garbage and syringes, and rusty sterilization machines.
The surgical license for Dr. Teresita Mascardo, who called her business Connecticut Plastic Surgery Center, was suspended on Dec. 4, according to the Connecticut Attorney General's office. She has since voluntarily surrendered her physician’s license and the facility license, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.
Among the troubling findings by the Department of Public Health at Mascardo's Connecticut office were:
- an unlicensed anesthesiologist;
- single use suture sets and other supplies that were resealed after they were opened, and had blood and/or human fluids on them;
- severe rust in the interior of a machine used to sterilize surgical equipment;
- a garbage container in a recovery room full of food, garbage, and other surgical waste including syringes;
- animal droppings on equipment;
- dust debris and blood on the floor and equipment; and
- procedures conducted without nurses present.
- In addition, his office said the facility had not created a system to control the distribution of drugs, an infection-control program and did not properly maintain medical records.
Blumenthal’s office was preparing to seek permanent license revocation when Mascardo voluntarily surrendered her licenses.
“Faced with the inevitable path to permanent license revocation, this doctor voluntarily surrendered her licenses -- permanently closing a practice plagued by unsanitary and unsafe conditions,” Blumenthal said. “No amount of nip and tuck could repair the patient safety threat at this facility -- now closed permanently.”
Mascardo apparently also runs Woman to Woman Cosmetic Surgery Center in Manhattan on the Upper East Side at 120 East 61st Street. A biography on her website says Mascardo has been specializing in plastic surgery since 1978. New York State is also trying to revoke her license.
Calls to the Mascardo's offices were not returned.
