Long Island councilwoman sues TV’s ‘most beautiful doctor’ over botched, unauthorized vein procedure

A Long Island councilwoman has filed a lawsuit alleging she received an invasive vein procedure without her consent while under anesthesia at a clinic tied to television medical personality Dr. David Greuner. Oyster Bay Town Councilwoman Vicki Walsh, 58, a two-term Republican, says in 2020 Dr. Arno Rotgans performed an operation she never agreed to after she was sedated for what authorities described as a complimentary vein test. Walsh woke in severe pain and learned the procedure had been a surgery, not a test. The lawsuit, filed in 2022, seeks to hold Greuner and his associates accountable for what Walsh describes as a botched treatment and a broader pattern of deceptive practices at the clinic.

According to filings, Walsh says nickel-sized stents were implanted deep in her pelvic region. The devices allegedly collapsed and fused into her veins, making future removal dangerous or impossible. The suit portrays a broader pattern at Greuner’s Gold Coast clinic, alleging that staff were trained to convert patients into larger payouts and that insurance records were sometimes falsified to secure approvals for procedures that the clinic performed without proper consent. Walsh was told that an emergency with her veins necessitated the work, a claim she disputes while describing her waking experience to have been full of confusion and pain.

Greuner, a onetime TV fixture billed as America’s Most Beautiful Doctor, has been barred from practicing medicine in three states, including New York, state records show. He has faced malpractice suits from more than a dozen patients and was arrested twice this summer in Nassau County on harassment charges tied to his former business partner, according to court records. Rotgans performed the botched procedure and died shortly after the surgery, Walsh has said, a development that has complicated questions about accountability and consent in elective vein care.

Walsh says the impact of the episode extends beyond physical pain. She has described a life limited by ongoing discomfort, with avoidance of public events, parades, and even family vacations, and she says she now leans to sit rather than stand at times to prevent knife-like pain. Medical experts consulted for the case have warned that fused venous stents can be extremely difficult to revise or remove without risking further damage. The suit, which seeks damages and corrective action, underscores concerns about consumer protections in cosmetic and vascular procedures offered by high-profile clinics.

Rotgans’s death shortly after Walsh’s procedure is cited in filings as part of the context for the case, which continues to unfold in court. Walsh has emphasized that if a council member can be targeted, any patient can be at risk of undergoing a procedure without informed consent. Greuner did not respond to requests for comment, and the defendants have not publicly admitted fault in the filings. The case remains active, with both sides preparing for further proceedings as the legal process continues.