'Botched' Dr. Terry Dubrow sues for defamation after patient seeks $10M in malpractice lawsuit

Famed surgeon and television star Dr. Terry Dubrow has filed a defamation lawsuit after a patient sued him for $10 million.

The A-list plastic surgeon, 62, sued a former patient’s lawyer for defamation after the attorney claimed to Page Six and other outlets that the woman had been “Botched by Botched,” according to new court documents obtained by Page Six on Wednesday.

In the filing, Dubrow claimed that lawyer Stephen Le Brocq, who is representing his ex-buttock lift patient Sandy Scoggins, used the media to make false statements against him to garner sympathy for his client, who alleges she nearly died under Dubrow’s care in 2019. He submitted the statement that Le Brocq gave to Page Six as evidence, which read in part:

"Ms. Scoggins went to Dubrow to receive a surgery that was supposed to change her life, and it did, but in the worst way imaginable. Scoggins was ‘Botched by Botched.’

"Dubrow’s operation was so incredibly incompetent that not only did our client’s wounds tear open immediately after her six-figure surgery, but she also developed sepsis and nearly died from Dubrow’s negligence on multiple occasions. On top of that, Dubrow left medical equipment used during the surgery in our client’s body, presumably because he was rushing to complete the procedure to get to filming his TV show. A camera crew for Botched was rushing Dubrow to finish with our client’s surgery since his show was about to start filming a new patient.

"It has taken more than a year’s time and multiple surgeries before our client no longer had large, open wounds on her body left by Dubrow."

On Thursday, Page Six first reported Dubrow claimed in court docs that Scoggins was attempting to extort him for $5 million by saying she would report him to the California Medical Board and file a lawsuit including her claims against him if he didn’t pay up. For his part, he asked an Orange County, California, Superior Court judge to order their case back into arbitration, per a form she signed before he operated on her.

“Instead of doing the right thing and accepting responsibility for his gross incompetence, he makes claims of extortion,” Scoggins’ attorney claimed to us in a statement. “Our client’s life was turned upside down and nearly taken by Dubrow, and he is attempting to suppress the truth of his incompetence with a confidential arbitration clause.”

Dubrow’s new lawsuit alleges that Scoggins’ attorney’s claims about his incompetence are untrue.

Meanwhile, Le Brocq filed a $10 million lawsuit against Dubrow on Scoggins’ behalf in federal court on Monday, claiming malpractice and negligence, per court documents obtained by Page Six. Scoggins claimed in her suit that Dubrow rushed through her surgery so he could film for “Botched,” which resulted in leaving materials inside of her and causing bacterial infections.

However, in Dubrow’s filing on Wednesday, he claimed that he didn’t even use the mesh that Scoggins claimed was left inside of her.

“Scoggins’ alleged medical injuries were not negligently caused by Dr. Dubrow; she did not ‘nearly die’ but instead faced complications that were commonly known risks of her surgery,” he wrote in the documents. “Dr. Dubrow did not leave ‘tools’ or ‘equipment’ inside Ms. Scoggins’ body; nor did he ‘rush’ to finish her procedure.”

In his filing, Dubrow claimed that he made Scoggins aware of the risks involved with her surgery and that he provided her with incredible care, despite Scoggins’ allegations in her lawsuit that Dubrow stopped communicating with her post-op. Dubrow claimed that he was in constant contact with her and that she “admitted in written communications that her complications resulted from ‘nothing . . . anyone did wrong’ and acknowledged that she ‘know[s] all this is so common and [she] was warned of the potential side effects.'”

Le Brocq told Page Six earlier this week regarding his case: “Although Ms. Scoggins will never be able to regain the parts of her life that she lost, she looks forward to her day in court where the truth may be told without fear of retribution by those with money, fame, or power.”

Dubrow is asking for damages in his defamation suit. His lawyer declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Le Brocq declined to comment on the defamation suit.