Big isle jury tells
breast surgeon
to pay $70,000

His unhappy patient said that
her chest now looks unnatural

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO >> A Big Island jury has awarded $70,000 to a former Hilo woman who sued her doctor for unsatisfactory breast reduction surgery.

The jury awarded the money to Jana Yagin, 23, of Las Vegas, who underwent the surgery in 1997 when she was 17.

Yagin's suit said the surgery performed by Dr. Michael Pasquale resulted in an "unsightly and unnatural appearance" in her breasts. Her nipples were located too high on her breasts, "which did not allow her to wear certain clothing," the suit said. Two later operations only partially improved her appearance.

At one point in the trial, Yagin bared her breasts for the jury's examination.

The suit says Pasquale failed to inform Yagin of the risks. Pasquale's attorney, George Playdon, said documents were presented in the trial showing Pasquale did inform Yagin of the risks, but the jury ignored those documents.

In a pretrial document, Pasquale said he did not inform Yagin that this would be the first time he would perform this type of breast reduction, the Lejour method. Playdon said the Lejour method is a minor variation, a "tweak," of a type of surgery Pasquale had performed at least 40 times before.

Pasquale, who now practices in Honolulu, is an osteopathic doctor, rather than the more common type technically known as an allopathic doctor.

Osteopathy is a school of medicine that puts greater emphasis on the interrelationship of muscle and bones, while allopathic methods put greater emphasis on medicines. But Playdon added, "An osteopath can do everything that a medical doctor can do."