Fake la surgeon Cristian Perez Latorre faces charges for unlicensed practice
A popular plastic surgeon in Los Angeles was found to be a fraud operating without a licence for a decade. The prosecutor's office has filed several charges against him related to harming a patient.
24 August 2024 18:38
53-year-old Cristian Perez Latorre was arrested on 22 August by investigators from the Los Angeles prosecutor's office. The next day, the District Attorney's Office announced that the man, who allegedly performed plastic surgery on a woman without a medical licence, was charged with assault and impersonation of a doctor. Latorre was released on bail of £120,000.
The man had been pretending to be a licensed surgeon for years
Latorre's Instagram profile—which has over 20,000 followers—describes him as a "certified plastic surgeon," specialising in facial procedures. In one of the posts, the man claimed that he was from Barcelona, while on Facebook, he stated that he was from Argentina. His purported LinkedIn page claims he has a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires. Latorre had been practising plastic surgery in Los Angeles for a decade and gained local media recognition.
Prosecutors determined that on 13 July 2021, Latorre performed an "unlicensed cosmetic surgery." Ten days later, he treated the same patient for infections that developed due to the surgery. According to the district attorney's office, on 13 August 2021, he again operated on the woman due to additional surgical complications. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, causing severe bodily harm, and six counts of practising medicine without certification.
Popular Los Angeles surgeon did not have a medical license
Bizarre photo sessions with models promoted Cristian Perez Latorre's services online. He posed, among other things, pretending to bandage them or with women lying next to him with marked surgery contours. Even major TV stations believed in Latorre's professionalism, including CNN, which interviewed him for its Español edition in June 2014. In 2023, Latorre gave extensive interviews to Spanish-language television about the illness and subsequent death of Argentine actress Silvina Luna. The woman died on 31 August 2023 due to kidney disease associated with complications from a Brazilian butt lift performed by another plastic surgeon.
District Attorney George Gascón emphasised in a statement about the Latorre case: "When an individual masquerades as a doctor and performs medical procedures without a license, it not only endangers lives but also erodes the essential trust between patients and legitimate healthcare providers." The prosecutor added: "We are committed to seeking justice for the victim, holding Mr Latorre accountable and restoring the trust that has been so grievously violated."
