What to Know
- Diaz still has complications from the procedure today, making it hard for her to exercise and play games.
- Linder has made television appearances on such programs as "The Dr.Oz Show" and "The View."
- Linder is scheduled to testify Friday as the first witness in the trial.
A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and his office manager were both impacted by the misrepresentations of a medical device company and a salesman who pushed a defective laser machine with promises it was the best of its kind on the market, an attorney told a jury Thrusday.
Lawyer Caleb Mason, on behalf of Dr. Stuart Linder and the surgeon's office head, Adriana Diaz, said that after the doctor performed a cellulite removal procedure on Diaz using the $200,000-plus device made by Cynosure Inc. in 2013, she was left with burn marks and a painful seroma, a pocket of clear fluid that sometimes develops in the body after surgery.
Diaz still has complications from the procedure today, making it hard for her to exercise and play games with her son, Mason said.
"She has been stopped from doing the outdoor experiences that she loves," Mason said during his opening argument to a Los Angeles Superior Court jury.
But attorney Karin Curtis, on behalf of Cynosure and salesman Kristopher Huston, said the device is safe and that Linder misused it.
"This is a case about a failure to follow instructions and taking risks," Curtis said.
U.S. & World
Linder has made television appearances on such programs as "The Dr.Oz Show" and "The View." According to the lawsuit he and Diaz filed in October 2014, Linder bought the laser device in October 2012 after persistent prodding by Huston, who allegedly told the doctor it was the best device of its kind on the market and that he needed to have one to stay competitive.
Linder used the device for the first time on Diaz, who wanted cellulite removed from her thighs, the suit states. But within days of the procedure, she found it impossible to sit or sleep and she could not touch the treated areas without feeling pain, according to the lawsuit.
Two months later, Diaz's condition worsened and she developed the seroma, making it hard for her to work an entire day, the suit states.
"All of these symptoms were directly attributable to the laser and surgery," according to the suit.
But Curtis said the device was safe if used properly. She said Linder allowed Diaz's seroma to "fester for months" and that he improperly used it in the same area where he performed a lyposuction procedure on Diaz in 2011.
Curtis also said that testimony will show that Diaz can exercise and that her claims of a significant drop in her ability to enjoy life are exaggerated.
Diaz was the one who decided to undergo the procedure knowing that Linder had not used the device before, Curtis said.
"She knew this was his very first procedure and she consented to this," Curtis said.
Linder is scheduled to testify Friday as the first witness in the trial.
