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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Woman Says Lasers Gave Polka Dots, Killed Sex Life

QUEENS, N.Y. (CN) - A woman claims that unlicensed plastic surgeons at a laser hair-removal clinic "polka dotted" her skin and ruined her sex life. She claims that New York Attorney General Cuomo allowed the LaserKlinic to falsely advertise itself as "the most professional and friendly staff in the industry" offering a laser treatment with "few side effects."

Shira Nahum claims the clinic, of Astoria, N.Y., advertised on the Internet that "you can return to normal activity right away" after the laser treatments that cause only a "slight reddening" that lasts "several hours or less."

After seeing the company's website, Nahum says, she made an appointment for a $2,500 treatment on her legs, arms and back.

Nahum says she wanted to cancel her second treatment after the first one burned her skin, but a supervisor persuaded her that the clinic would use less-irritating lasers the next time.

But Nahum says the operators of the machine "kept the laser in the same place for too long and did not follow required procedures and protocol given the plaintiff's skin type and skin color," inflicting more scarring.

Nahum says she later found out that the operators, defendants Morgan Ostad and Sara Cohen, "may not be licensed for hair laser removal."

Since her treatments in March and April 2009, Nahum says, her "skin has never healed and remains permanently discolored, red, irritated, scarred and ... disfigured."

She says her "polka dotted" skin has caused her "depression, anxiety ... loss of appetite, loss of the ability to concentrate, lack of desire to have sex or be seen without her clothes, [and] pain and suffering".

Nahum sued Laserklinic and its employees for negligence and deceptive business practices, and asked Cuomo for an injunction "to take such action as needed to prevent future disfigurement of citizens of the state."

She seeks $5 million in punitive damages, and is represented by Jon B. Felice & Associates.

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