Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- A Utah jury awarded $900,000 to a patient in a malpractice case.
- The surgeon, Michael Kirk Moore Jr., failed to provide proper post-operative care, a lawsuit alleges.
- Moore faces multiple lawsuits; his medical license remains active.
SALT LAKE CITY — A plastic surgeon who was previously accused of distributing fake vaccination cards during the COVID-19 pandemic has been found liable by a Utah jury for medical malpractice.
Though federal criminal charges against Michael Kirk Moore Jr. in a vaccination cards case were dropped in July, several other cases against him were still pending.
Earlier this month, jurors sided with a woman who claimed Moore and his business, Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah, were at fault as she endured complications, infections and scarring after he performed an abdominoplasty, or a tummy tuck, on her, according to court documents.
In a Dec. 5 verdict, the jury ruled in favor of the former patient, awarding her close to $900,000 in damages, nearly $49,000 of which is to cover past medical expenses and $25,000 toward future medical costs, court documents state.
The complaint alleges that in July 2022, the patient underwent the procedure at Moore's practice in Midvale. Prior to the abdominoplasty, she was supposed to be evaluated for surgery, and a preoperative plan was supposed to be prepared.
According to the complaint, there were no medical records of a preoperative evaluation, nor was the patient properly prepared for the surgery or a preoperative plan put together.
The complaint goes on to allege that after the procedure, the woman suffered "numerous post-operative complications," including a wound that initially would not heal.
The patient reached out to Moore's office about the pain she was dealing with, but he (Moore) "never saw her post-surgery and never followed up despite her complaints and obvious complications," the complaint alleged.
The patient was seen by a medical assistant, who court documents allege failed to recognize and report her symptoms of ischemia and infection.
The patient's infection only worsened, according to the complaint, and she continued to experience pain a year after the operation.
The patient sought out other medical care and "faced years of recovery and necessary revision surgery," the lawsuit said.
She sued Moore, claiming negligence against him and his practice in July 2023.
Moore is also named in several other malpractice lawsuits.
A complaint filed in May against Moore alleges that a patient was burned due to a "flash fire" during a breast removal and replacement surgery in 2024. According to the lawsuit, the flash fire "occurred from residual alcohol, or skin antiseptic."
The complaint alleges that the patient "sustained second-degree and third-degree burns over 18.5% of her and body when alcohol skin antiseptic ignited from a hot instrument during her breast surgery." The patient spent 23 days in the University Health Burn Center and has continued treatment.
Moore's business, Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah, was named in another malpractice lawsuit alleging that Christoper Kelly, a surgeon within his practice, improperly performed neck lift procedure on a patient in 2020.
The complaint states that the surgery left the patient with numerous medical complications as a result of the procedure that required "multiple reconstruction surgeries."
Moore's profile remains visible on the Freedom Surgical and Aesthetics website, and his license is still active through the Utah Division of Professional Licensing, according to its database.
In July, Moore was on trial in federal court in Salt Lake City when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Department of Justice to dismiss all charges against him and his business. He had been charged with destroying vaccines and giving out fake vaccination cards during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so. He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today," Bondi said at the time in a post on X.
