Millions of people saw a video of a Gwinnett doctor singing along to the rap song “Cut It” and mugging for the camera while cutting into a patient’s flesh.
Now, the woman in that video has told Channel 2 Action News that the cosmetic surgery left her disfigured. She also said she never gave permission for Dr. Windell C. Davis-Boutte to post the video online.
“To see that video, with my flesh being cut, without a straight line, and dancing while cutting me? That’s horrible,” said the 37-year-old Louisiana resident.
Another patient last week filed a lawsuit with similar claims. That suit, by a 30-year-old from Florida, says that Boutte invaded her privacy by posting photos of her exposed body on social media. Her lawsuit says that before undergoing cosmetic surgery, she had expressly forbidden the doctor from using any photos of her without her permission.
That woman also says her surgery was botched.
The two are among the latest former patients to step forward with allegations that Boutte misled them, subjected them to unsafe practices and left them with permanent injuries.
Last month, a joint investigation by Channel 2 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined Boutte's care of several cosmetic surgery patients at her Lilburn office. Boutte had recently settled a case involving a 54-year-old left with permanent brain damage when her heart stopped after eight hours of surgery. At least a half dozen other patients have also sued her, the investigation found.
Boutte’s attorney did not respond to Channel 2 requests for comment. Boutte had declined AJC interview requests.
Videos that Boutte had posted online showed the doctor dancing to music while making incisions or preparing to operate with patients' nude backsides exposed.
The Louisiana woman, who asked to be identified only by her first and middle names, said that when she saw one video WSB had obtained, she recognized her body. The day after the video aired, Latoyah Archine said that Boutte called her. In a conversation Archine recorded, Boutte asked her to make a one-minute testimonial to come to her defense on social media.
She also texted Archine: “Cut It is your song, girlfriend. You did awesome.”
Archine declined to help and contacted Channel 2 instead. She said the surgery left her buttock misshapen and she has a scar that can’t be hidden by a swimsuit bottom. She said she plans legal action.
Last week’s lawsuit was filed by Amanda Phillips in state court in DeKalb County.
Her suit accuses Boutte of a bait-and-switch: Phillips wanted a procedure called SmartLipo, which is considered a less invasive form of liposuction. Instead, the lawsuit claims, Boutte subjected her to regular liposuction. “We think this was a pattern and practice of Boutte,” Phillips’ attorney Joseph Wilson with J.L. Wilson Trial Law in Atlanta, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Phillips’ lawsuit says that after the procedure she developed open wounds that had to be treated at a Florida hospital, and was left with permanent scars. A medical expert consulted for her lawsuit said that Boutte was too aggressive with the liposuction, Wilson said.
Wilson also said Phillips was shocked to recognize photos of her body on the doctor’s social media sites. “Prior to the procedure being performed, she never consented to any photos being put out there of her,” he said.
Boutte has not responded to the lawsuit.
The Georgia Composite Medical Board website shows that Boutte previously has settled four malpractice lawsuits. She has never been sanctioned by the board.
