A MEDICAL MASK OF DEATH

By DAREH GREGORIAN
May 23, 2007 -- Dr. Sherrell Aston, one of the world's most acclaimed cosmetic surgeons, is being sued by a Connecticut man who claims the renowned doctor's "gross negligence" led to his wife's death.

Susan Malitz, 56, had gone to Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital in 2004 for what was supposed to be a routine face-lift operation by Aston, whose patients have reportedly included Tipper Gore, Anna Wintour and Catherine Deneuve.

Two hours later, Malitz was dead - the second patient to die during cosmetic surgery at the hospital in a two-month period.

Malitz's doctor husband, Alan Malitz, filed a $3 million suit against the hospital, Aston and two other physicians, charging them with medical malpractice that caused his wife's wrongful death. Aston, who is known as the "Aesthetic Magician of the Stars," took the witness stand yesterday to say he hadn't done anything wrong.

"You're saying nothing you did, your staff did, did anything to harm this patient?" Malitz's incredulous lawyer, Tom Moore, asked Aston.

"Absolutely," Aston answered.

Moore noted that the city Medical Examiner's Office found Malitz, who'd gone to see Aston for a face and eyelid lift, had died of "Lidocaine toxicity" - an overdose of the painkiller Lidocaine.

Aston admitted ordering the amount of Lidocaine that Malitz was to receive, and acknowledged that he hadn't taken the 5-foot-1, 115-pound mom's weight into account, but he maintained that's not what killed her. Asked if the coroner who worked on the case was wrong, he said, "Yes."

"She made one mistake after the other," Aston said. "She didn't even understand the drugs she'd been given."

He also disputed the M.E.'s finding that the drug had accidentally been injected into her larynx, and suggested evidence of a needle track in her neck was the result of shoddy handling of the mom's organs by the M.E.

Aston, who will be cross-examined by his own lawyer today, is the chairman of the hospital's plastic-surgery de partment.

The husband of socialite Muffie Potter Aston, he was labeled an "Aesthetic Magician" in the current edition of L'Uomo Vogue, which reported that he counted former presidential candidate Bob Dole among his celebrity clients.

The year Malitz died was a bad one for the hospital. "First Wives Club" author Olivia Goldsmith died during cosmetic surgery just weeks before Malitz.

Later that year, another woman suffered brain damage during plastic surgery at the hospital. The victim in that case also was represented by Moore, and settled her suit for $7 million.
source : www.nypost.com