Former patients of an Atlanta ophthalmologist have filed lawsuits claiming he botched their plastic surgery and left them with permanent scars.
Dr. Harvey “Chip” Cole, also known as “the eye guy,” operates Oculus Plastic Surgery and promises “unparalleled expertise,” according to his website.
Cole is accused of violating the standard of care in surgeries he performed on four Georgia patients between February 2022 and January 2023.
The procedures were performed at the Northside Hospital facilities in both Atlanta and Sandy Springs.
Kayla Cannon, 29, filed suit against the doctor in February after she underwent surgery by him in February and June 2022.
Cannon claims Cole cut too much tissue from her eyelids, damaged her eye and also failed to remove the cheek implants after they became infected
Cannon, seen here before surgery, was born with a birth defect, meaning she has no muscles at the bottom of her eyelids, and has undergone multiple surgeries
She claims Cole cut too much tissue from her eyelids, damaged her eye and also failed to remove the cheek implants after they became infected.
Dr. Harvey “Chip” Cole, also known as “the eye guy,” operates Oculus Plastic Surgery and promises “unparalleled expertise,” according to his website
Cannon was born with a birth defect, which means she has no muscles at the bottom of her eyelids, and has undergone multiple surgeries.
Speak with WSBshe said, “He said I can fix you, I can make you better. I’ve always struggled with my appearance and I was just really excited to finally be happy.”
She told the outlet she was spoken to that she had undergone both cheek implants and eye surgery.
“He took half my lid off, so it was extremely tight. And he kept saying, I’ll fix it. I’ll fix it. Then I started getting infections on my cheeks,” she added.
Cannon has now undergone seven more operations to repair the injuries, adding: ‘I look worse than when I started seeing him. Permanent scars that will never go away.’
Another accuser, who has not been named, but has agreed to have her image published in the newspaper Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Cole damaged her facial nerves.
The woman claims the surgery, performed at Northside Hospital Atlanta in 2022, left her partially paralyzed and unable to close her eyes or move her mouth.
Cannon has now undergone seven more surgeries to repair the injuries, which she says have left her with permanent scars
According to WSB, this is not the first case of medical malpractice against Cole
Another alleges in another lawsuit that Cole gave her crooked eyebrows when he operated on her. She now needs Botox injections to keep them even.
The fourth alleges that during a surgery in January 2023, Cole performed procedures that were not agreed upon or even discussed.
Lawyer Alex Seay, who is representing the patients, told WSB: ‘What we have here is a series of bad outcomes.
‘And when you have so many, they are no longer errors, but a pattern.
‘He promised to fix things and all he did was cause problems and permanent harm. What he has done cannot be undone.”
Another accuser, who has not been named but agreed to have her image published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says Cole damaged her facial nerves
Cannon and her attorney also appeared at Banfield last night in their first national TV interview.
Scott Bailey, an attorney for Cole and Oculus, said Cole had met all medical standards in all cases.
He said: ‘He prioritizes patient safety and satisfaction and has dedicated his professional life to the specialty of facial and oculoplastic surgery.
‘It is a basic principle of cosmetic surgery that each patient’s anatomy is different and there are known complications that are rare but well recognized.’
According to WSB, this is not the first case of medical malpractice against Cole.
In 2010, a $1.256 million judgment against him led to a landmark case in the state Supreme Court that overturned restrictions on jury awards.
