Internet based Cosmetic business

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http://www.poconorecord.com/local/tjd11054.htm

ers man returns to cosmetic surgery business

STROUDSBURG — The founder of an Internet-based cosmetic surgery business that closed amid allegations of medical negligence has opened a new firm, again offering discount medical procedures on everything from breast enhancement to tummy tucks. Gerard of ers is now operating My Choice Medical, Inc., with offices at 1410 Spruce St., Stroudsburg. , a former home builder, began selling cosmetic surgery services over the Internet in the late 1990s through Thatlook.com, a publicly traded company that closed in September 2001. The company was teetering under the weight of $13 million in debt and several lawsuits in other states alleging physician malpractice. , reached at his Stroudsburg office, said his new venture is "much smaller" in scale and contracts only with board certified surgeons. "We're not dealing with cosmetic surgeons," said . Through his previous company, Thatlook.com, customers from around the country would be financed, sometimes as low as $38 per week, for various procedures, then referred to one of 108 participating plastic surgeons. The surgeons paid Thatlook.com $2,500 to $10,000 per month for the referrals and marketing fees. Thatlook.com would then purchase the debt for the surgery from the doctors and sell the notes to firms in California and Massachusetts. The firm received a $30 million investment from a Sacramento, Calif., venture capital firm in 2000, but just a year later, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thatlook.com stock had plummeted from a high of $2 per share to zero. left Thatlook.com in August 2001 with a $264,000 payout. The company went out of business soon after. The status of the malpractice suits, filed in Illinois and California, is unknown. 's new business, My Choice Medical, Inc., offers virtually the same cosmetic services as Thatlook.com. For as little as $500 down, plastic and cosmetic surgery can be financed. The company is also split into two divisions, one focusing on plastic surgery, the other on anti-aging medicines. According to the Mychoicemedical.com Web site, the company is 50 percent owned by the surgeons, and the other 50 percent by independent business people. said two of his former investors in Thatlook.com, Charlie and Trapasso of Tannersville, have invested in the new venture, and own 20 percent of the new company. Dr. Wells, a California surgeon and spokesman for the American Board of Plastic Surgery, cautioned potential customers of Internet-based plastic surgery firms to meet and consult with a surgeon before agreeing to any procedure. "As far as selling surgery over the phone or Internet, we have a strong code of ethics, and that includes seeing a patient in person," said Wells. "I don't think any of the organized plastic surgeon groups are supportive of these concepts. You can't consult with a person over the phone." Wells also cautioned not to settle for the term "board certified." "There are over 110 boards, and there may be some paper credentials, but you don't have a way to check them out," says Wells. "You want to know that the board is American Board of Plastic Surgery certified."