A cosmetic surgeon who removed the labia from a woman aged just 13 has settled in court as his patient claims she will be disfigured for life.
The former patient of Dr. Azariahu Granot said she was psychologically traumatized after he removed her labia and clitoral hood in 2008.
The 27-year-old woman went to the surgeon with concerns about the appearance of her genitals and underwent surgery with her mother’s consent.
dr Granot was served with a supreme court Letter from last June accusing him of performing an operation that was not in line with what was agreed with his patient.
Pictured: Melbourne-based cosmetic surgeon Dr. Azariahu Granot
Several allegations of negligence included one that he allegedly left the operating room and showed her mother the labia and clitoral hood that he had removed.
The surgeon, who is said to have 35 years of experience in the industry, has avoided civil court proceedings after his former patient agreed to a large financial settlement last month Sydney Morning Herald reported.
An insurance company is being asked to cover the substantial sum, but his former patient said no amount of money would offset her suffering.
The woman previously told The Age her body was damaged beyond repair from the surgery and she was not made aware of the risks at the age of 13.
She filed a complaint with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency in 2019, which Dr. Granot cleared of any wrongdoing the following year.
“I don’t have proper anatomy anymore,” she said.
“I don’t have labia minora and it almost destroyed my clitoral hood and it’s non-functional. I can’t even have a real relationship.’
dr Granot advised the teenager that her labia minora had an abnormality and that he could correct them with an operation known as labiaplasty.
Also known as vaginal rejuvenation, the surgery can last up to an hour and reduces the size and appearance of the labia minora.
The woman said that even if the operation had been properly explained to her at the time, there was no way a 13-year-old could understand it.
“Children cannot understand how surgery like this affects them,” she said.
dr Granot denied negligence or removed the then-teen’s clitoral hood and claimed the surgery was there to correct a physical abnormality, according to documents filed by the surgeon’s lawyers last August.
A defense statement said he acted in a manner that was widely accepted in Australia at the time the service was provided.
It found that a “significant number of reputable practitioners in the field have accepted the service as ‘professional practice in the circumstances'”.
dr Granot revealed in 2015 that he had had liposuction on three of his daughters and had no regrets about the surgery.
Liposuction is a procedure that removes fat from under the skin, usually from areas of the body such as the abdomen, hips, legs, thighs, buttocks, or neck.
dr Granot (pictured) revealed in 2015 he’d had liposuction on three of his daughters and said he has no regrets about the procedures – which remove fat from under the skin
“When I look at my daughters, I scrutinize them too and have had liposuction on three of them,” he told The Age in 2015.
“Other parents use their children from their area of expertise. My field is cosmetic surgery, so why shouldn’t I?’
One of his then 17-year-old daughters said in the same article that while she doesn’t regret having liposuction, she sometimes wonders if it’s necessary.
She described standing in a t-shirt and underwear with her father grabbing parts of her legs and saying, “We can get rid of this.”
“I trusted dad and it was free, so I had liposculpture on my inner thighs and stomach,” wrote the then 33-year-old.
Her father then received a slap in the face from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
In a statement, AHPRA described the liposuction as “not urgent or medically necessary and when either patient was a minor.”
According to the website of the East Malvern clinic, from which the surgeon still operates, Dr. Granot “received extensive training in the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia in cosmetic surgery techniques since the 1980s.”
According to the website, the 72-year-old is trained in vaginal surgery and vaginal enlargement, as well as liposuction, face and breast lifts, among other things.
