Bad Medicine

Shortly after the unexpected death of Dr. Donda West, the mother of hip-hop star Kanye West, disturbing details emerged regarding the Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who operated on her the day before she died.

According to legal documents uncovered in California, at least three malpractice suits have been filed against Dr. Jan Adams (above), the host of Plastic Surgery: Before and After, a series on the Discovery Health cable network. In one suit, filed two weeks before Dr. West’s death, a patient alleged she “nearly bled to death” after undergoing a breast augmentation. In 2005, another patient sued Adams for sexual battery and malpractice; she claimed he botched two liposuction procedures and took advantage of her post-surgery condition by plying her with wine and having sex with her. The case was eventually settled. In 2003, a third patient claimed that Adams left a surgical sponge inside her body. She was awarded $100,000, but the patient’s lawyer claims Adams has yet to pay the judgment.

Last April, the California state medical board placed Adams’s medical license under investigation, citing his convictions for DUI in 2003 and 2006. It was also learned that Adams’s ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend both filed restraining orders against him, alleging violent behavior and alcohol abuse.

West, 58, former chair of the English department at Chicago State University and the author of Raising Kanye, died on November 10, following a tummy tuck and a breast reduction. Though a preliminary autopsy was completed, the cause of death was inconclusive. (Adams has denied any wrongdoing in his treatment of Dr. West.)

Kanye was on tour in London when he heard the news. In a statement, he acknowledged the “outpouring of support and kind words” and asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Kanye West’s Loop Dreams Teacher Training Institute.