A LITTLE girl’s face has been left permanently scarred by a doctor during a laser procedure to remove a birthmark, it’s claimed.
The six-year-old child has been left with several circular open wounds that stretch along the left side of her face from around her nose to her ear after an allegedly botched procedure.
The girl’s mother, Kasey Bernu, from Minnesota, told the Star Tribune she wants “accountability” after Dr Kristen Hook’s alleged inexperience while using a laser in 2017 left her daughter horribly disfigured.
She said: “We’re bringing this lawsuit in large part because we do not want to see another child or family suffer the way my daughter and family has.”
The family’s lawsuit — filed on Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court — named Hook and University of Minnesota Physicians as defendants.
Attorney Jeff Storms, who is representing Mrs Bernu in the malpractice suit, said her daughter still has clearly visible injuries nearly two years after the alleged blunder at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
He told the New York Post: “She still has very serious pocking and deep scarring on her face.
“And they’re going to be permanent.”
We do not want to see another child or family suffer the way my daughter and family has
Kasey Bernu, the girl’s mother
To make matters worse, the girl must wait “several years” before she can have treatments to reduce or remove the scarring, Mr Storms said.
The girl, who lives in Minnesota’s Crow Wing County, is now seven or eight years old, the attorney said.
She was born with a “port-wine stain,” a reddish birthmark that her family began treating shortly after her birth, the lawsuit claims.
Dr Hook, who specialises in paediatric dermatology, failed to disclose her inexperience using an “extremely powerful” laser.
She also gave the girl’s family “improper wound care” over the phone after her injuries developed, the suit claims.
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Speaking on behalf of the doctor and the clinic, attorney Ryan Ellis said: “We sympathise with this patient and her family.
“Dr Hook and University of Minnesota Physicians fully stand by and support the medical care and treatment provided to this patient and plan to defend this case.
“Due to patient privacy and pending litigation, we are unable to provide further comment.”
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $50,000 (£38,000).