10 May 9th-May 15th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Surgeon Sued Again Third woman sues Phoenix doctor for botched plastic surgery. BY TJ L’HEUREUX A third woman has sued plastic surgeon Bradley Becker, accusing him of medical negligence and failing to perform the breast lift, liposuction and revision to a tummy tuck scar she paid him to do. Julie Culton and her husband, Jay, sued Becker in Maricopa County Superior Court on Jan. 26. Their suit came about four months after Wendy Ellsworth and Alicia Armijo sued Becker, accusing him of performing drunken, botched plastic surgeries. At least five women have filed complaints against Becker to the medical board that licenses him. According to Culton’s lawsuit, Becker breached his duty by failing to provide the “degree of care, skill and learning expected of a reasonable, prudent health care provider.” Culton paid Becker $13,400 for the breast lift, lipo and revision of a tummy tuck scar from a prior surgery, according to the lawsuit. After the surgery, Culton “observed that Dr. Becker had not performed a breast lift, although he had previously agreed to do so and Plaintiff (Culton) had paid him to do so,” the lawsuit stated. “The other two procedures that Dr. Becker had agreed to do — the scar revision and lipo procedure — were either not done or were done in such a way as to give the appearance they were not done.” The lawsuit claimed that as a result of Becker’s work, Culton has been left signifi- cantly disfigured and in need of corrective cosmetic surgery while she has experienced pain and suffering, financial difficulties, anxiety, depression and personal embarrass- ment. The lawsuit is seeking past and future medical expenses related to the surgery, damages for past and future pain and suffering, and attorneys’ fees and expenses. “It feels like I just threw almost $15,000 in the trash,” Culton told Phoenix New Times. “I hate the way I look in clothes. It’s depressing, and it sucks. I’m jaded. I don’t have the money to go get it fixed again.” The suit also claimed that as a result of the surgery, Culton and her husband expe- rienced a “loss of consortium” in their marriage. Culton said that she learned of Becker through a friend who was pleased with the surgeon’s work. After her own negative experience, she said she thought it would be pointless to try to speak up until reading coverage of the lawsuits from Ellsworth and Armijo. New Times was the first to report the allegations against Becker. “How does he do such a good job some- times and such a shitty job sometimes?” Culton asked. “Especially after hearing some of the allegations against him, it does make sense.” Richard Kent, Becker’s attorney, said he will continue to defend Becker until the case is “dismissed or won in trial.” The first two lawsuits against Bradley Becker Ellsworth and Armijo sued Becker last fall for medical negligence, battery and inten- tional infliction of emotional distress. Both women alleged Becker smelled strongly of alcohol before botching their surgeries. Ellsworth told New Times the surgery completely altered her personal and social life. “It’s hard to feel like you can go out when you feel like Frankenstein,” Ellsworth said. “I didn’t go to family parties. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t want to dress up. If I went anywhere, I would wear really tight undergarments, trying to tuck all the extra skin they didn’t take. The whole point of a tummy tuck is to not have that.” In his Nov. 17 response to the lawsuit, Becker said he “complied with the stan- dard of care” and that he was not impaired during the surgery. After filing their lawsuits, Ellsworth and Armijo — along with their attorney, Robert Gregory — said they were on the receiving end of threats, stalking and intimidation that left them concerned about the safety of their families, according to court documents filed on Feb. 15. In the court filing, both women said they were preparing to seek a restraining order against Becker. But Gregory told New Times that since filing those docu- ments, neither he nor the women have experienced additional threats, so they have not pursued the restraining orders. Becker denied involvement in the latest allegations in an affidavit filed on Feb. 21. In a motion for Armijo’s case, Gregory wrote that Armijo doesn’t want to continue her case while “pursuing her options with the Maricopa Sheriff’s Office.” Armijo’s case was dismissed without prejudice on March 27, which means she can refile the lawsuit in the future. “The fact is she has no case against my client,” Kent said. In Ellsworth’s case, oral arguments about a motion to dismiss the suit Julie Culton (right) sued Bradley Becker (top photo) for medical negligence in January over claims that he botched her plastic surgery. Erin Wing (left) is one of at least five women who filed complaints against Becker with the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery. (Graphic by Emma Randall, photos courtesy of Erin Wing and Julie Culton) | NEWS | >> p 11
