Two plastic surgeons have been permanently banned from practicing medicine and given prison sentences following the death of a billionaire diamond dealer during a cosmetic procedure at an elite Paris clinic.
Ehud Arye Laniado, 65, a Belgian-Israeli owner of Omega Diamonds, suffered a fatal heart attack while undergoing a penis enlargement treatment at the Saint-Honoré-Ponthieu aesthetic clinic. The incident occurred during an after-hours appointment.
On Wednesday, a Paris court handed a 15-month prison sentence to the primary surgeon, identified as Guy H., who was known for catering to a wealthy clientele with procedures costing tens of thousands of euros. A second surgeon, who was standing in that evening, received a 12-month suspended sentence. Both were convicted on charges including failing to assist a person in danger, drug offences, and practicing medicine without a proper licence. They were also ordered to pay fines totaling €70,000 (approximately £60,650).
According to the investigation, Laniado was a regular client, undergoing injections at the clinic two to four times per year. The court heard that on the evening of his death, the surgeons made an initial call for assistance around 8 p.m., citing the patient’s “irritable” behaviour and insistence on proceeding despite abdominal pain. A second emergency call was not placed until two hours later.
A source familiar with the case told French media Le Parisien that while the injections themselves were ruled out as the direct cause of death, the delay in securing comprehensive emergency aid was a critical factor. “It’s easy to say in hindsight that the heart attack started there,” the source stated, explaining that the patient’s known ulcer history initially distracted from a potential cardiac issue.
The defending lawyer argued the cardiac incident was unforeseeable. “This cardiac incident could have happened anywhere, even in a pizzeria. Would the pizza maker have been prosecuted in that case?” said Martin Reynaud.
The ruling has sent ripples through Paris’s high-end cosmetic surgery industry. An unnamed practitioner commented that the tragedy was “not a surprise,” adding that in the “upper echelons of cosmetic surgery, they often bend the rules.”
The clinic has not issued a public statement following the verdict.
