Harley Street doctor banned after lockdown penis filler operation
Dr Mohammed Sefahn Chaudhry, 35, kept his private clinic open using his website PenisFill.co.uk .
A Harley Street doctor has been banned from treating patients after he carried out a £3,500 non-essential penis filler operation and offered cosmetic treatments as prizes during lockdown.
Dr Mohammed Sefahn Chaudhry, 35, kept his private clinic open using his website PenisFill.co.uk and put up £1,000 worth of ‘Barbie tip rhinoplasty’ and ‘lip filler’ treatments as giveaways in a prize draw on social media.
Chaudhry, who calls himself ‘Dr Sef’ and drives a Ferrari with the number plate Dr S3F was reported to the General Medical Council after the patient who underwent ‘penis filler’ surgery between April 2020 and August 2020 claimed his genitalia had been left ‘misshapen’ and had developed a lump.
The man, known only as Patient A, also alleged Chaudhry had without his permission posted ‘before and after’ pictures of his penis on his website.
Patient A also claims he forged paperwork and raised his voice at him when he complained about the results of the procedure.
At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Chaudhry, from Coulsdon, South London, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct relating to non essential work during the pandemic and was suspended from medical practise for five months.
But a disciplinary panel cleared him over allegations he failed to give proper treatment to Patient A and also rejected claims Chaudhry posted the ‘before and after pictures’ online after comparing the images in question to another picture of the man’s penis which he sent to an expert witness in the case as evidence.
The doctor ran two cosmetic clinics, Dermis Clinic Ltd and MC Medical Aesthetics Limited and was once endorsed by former Dragons Den star Duncan Bannatyne.
The investigation began in October 2020 after Patient A complained about his penis filler procedure which was carried out after he was contacted over Whatsapp by one of Chaudhry’s work colleagues.
The Manchester hearing was told Patient A had wanted ‘increased penis girth’ as his partner was ‘not satisfied’ and had undergone a similar procedure in 2017.
He said in a statement: ‘The call was purely logistical e.g., when they could see me, how I could get there (given this was during the COVID pandemic), whether Dr Chaudhry had a London clinic etc. I confirmed that I was circumcised and asked whether my skin would adapt to the filler, and I was advised that it would.’
Patient A underwent the procedure on 4 May 2020 with Dr Chaudhry and the following June attended a second consultation in which he said, the filler had not hardened and his penis started to look ‘misshapen’.
He said there was a lump and the filler remained soft and claimed Chaudhry suggested further filler should be injected for free.
On July 18 2020, Patient A attended Chaudhry’s clinic for a third consultation and procedure and it was agreed that the enzyme Hylase be injected into his penis to dissolve the lump.
But in his statement Patient A alleged: ‘Dr Chaudhry raised his voice, implying that he was out of pocket as he had provided some of the filler for free and that it was my fault the filler hadn’t hardened. I didn’t think this was very called for.’
Chaudhry denied wrongdoing, telling the court: ‘I deny raising my voice at any time during my appointment with Patient A. He seems to be seeking ways to get a refund.’
He added: ‘During the covid pandemic my understanding and belief was that the treatments I offer are medical. Therefore I never viewed them as non-essential. Every client that came to us during the pandemic, who was seeking treatments for purely cosmetic reasons, were not seen and advised to come after restrictions had been lifted.
‘Our clinic was not open as normal and has strict covid policies and protocols. I would also like to state, that the area that I work in was an extremely grey area during the pandemic. My colleague doctors, working on the same street, were performing hundreds of cosmetic only procedures.’
‘I was not intently or purposefully breaching Covid legislation. It was a highly unprecedented period with grand uncertainty intertwining also aspects of the working life.’
He also said the clinics no longer offered treatments as prize giveaways.
In suspending Chaudhry, MPTS chairman Ms Amarjit Sagar said: ‘The Tribunal did not accept that Dr Chaudhry could have possibly thought that he was permitted to remain open during the period of the pandemic.
‘There was wide press coverage and daily broadcast updates about the risks of the spread of COVID-19 yet despite this, Dr Chaudhry chose to continue to work and remain open.
‘Patient A had not been in pain with his penis and there was nothing to suggest he required urgent medical attention. The Tribunal was therefore satisfied that treating Patient A by injecting him with penis filler was non-essential treatment.’
‘The Tribunal considered that Dr Chaudhry was prompting customers to break COVID19 guidelines by incentivising them with aesthetic procedures worth £1000.
‘It reminded itself the Dr Chaudhry’s post stated ‘winner will be announced in 48 hours’.
‘Although there was nothing to suggest that the winner would receive the prize during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Tribunal considered the context, in which Dr Chaudhry had already previously ignored COVID-19 guidance by treating Patient A with a non-essential procedure. He has shown no remorse.’
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