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News Release — July 3, 2003
MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA
July 3, 2003
Medical Board of California Arrests
Two Orange County
Residents for Unlicensed Practice of Medicine
SACRAMENTO—The Medical Board of California assisted the Westminister Police Department on July 1, 2003 in the arrest of two unlicensed persons, Thuba Tran and Tuyet Nguyen, for performing cosmetic surgery at the Christina Beauty Center in Westminister. They were charged with violating Business and Professions Code section 2052, a felony, by risking great bodily harm, serious injury or death by practicing medicine without a license. Tran and Nguyen were arrested and booked into the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.
When the Westminister Police Department responded to a 911 call advising that an unlicensed person was performing cosmetic surgery at the Christina Beauty Center at 14082 Magnolia Avenue, #114 in Westminister, they found Nguyen performing an eyelid surgery on a female patient in a back room. The patient had paid $1,600 for the surgery that was just being completed at the time police and Medical Board investigators arrived. The patient identified Nguyen as the person performing the surgery and Tran as the assistant.
The Christina Beauty Center operates under license number A220074 issued by the Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology but during the search of the premises, investigators found no shampoo bowls or hair stations and no inventory of hair or nail products which are commonly found in a beauty salon. They did find two enclosed rooms containing a padded table in each room. Also, signage in the front window of the establishment advertised in Vietnamese, "Cosmetic Surgery Done by Well Known Doctors." Hanging in the waiting room was a framed medical assistant diploma from the Medical Career College issued to Tuyet Nhung Nguyen.
Medical Board investigators also found a bloody scalpel and hemostat along with suture materials in the room where the patient was found. Also recovered were large amounts of medical and surgical supplies along with prescription medications commonly used by hospitals and physicians performing surgery, including injectable lidocaine, syringes, scalpels, hemostats, and silicone breast implants.
Medical Board investigators are continuing the investigation and will refer the case to the Orange County District Attorney for criminal prosecution. Investigators are notifying the Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology as they have jurisdictional authority over the establishment license of Christina Beauty Center.
The mission of the Medical Board is to protect healthcare consumers through the proper licensing and regulation of physicians and surgeons and certain allied healthcare professions and through the vigorous, objective enforcement of the Medical Practice Act. The Board encourages the public to confirm that they are receiving healthcare from licensed individuals by calling its Consumer Information Line at (916) 263-2382 or visiting its Web site at: www.medbd.ca.gov.
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