Plastic surgeon’s license revoked three years after court acquitted him of charges

A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who was accused — and acquitted — of unlawfully videotaping partly nude patients lost his medical license Friday after state officials said he was a threat to public safety.

In 2013, a criminal court jury acquitted Lance Everett Wyatt of six misdemeanor counts, including unlawful videotaping two patients who were partly undressed and sexual battery on a patient.

Despite those acquittals, the Medical Board of California on June 2 moved to revoke Wyatt’s license, citing “intentional and inexcusable breach of [two of] his female patients’ trust by surreptitiously video recording them partially nude without their consent.”

The board accused Wyatt of “gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, unprofessional conduct, and sexual misconduct” saying in its decision that Wyatt chose to “deny all wrongdoing and characterize himself as the victim, with no real concern for the actual victims.”

Wyatt’s request that the board reconsider its decision was denied Friday. Wyatt was arrested in August 2012 after a joint investigation by Los Angeles police and the medical board.

Christine Valine, a public information analyst for the board, said pursuing accusations at the conclusion of a criminal trial is standard practice.

Wyatt said he has filed an appeal in Superior Court to overturn the board’s decision. If the medical board truly considered him a threat to his patients’ safety, it would have suspended him or restricted his activities well before revoking his license, he said

“It seems as though the decision is rather harsh and rather late,” Wyatt said. “The Medical Board wants me to admit to crimes I did not do and that I was acquitted for.”

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