Brazilian Actress Awarded $1.16 Million in Botched Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgery

LOS ANGELES, CA -- An actress well-known in Brazil was awarded $1.16 million Wednesday in her lawsuit against a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon who she said caused her to lose job opportunities because a facial procedure left her face looking enlarged and swollen.

The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated for about 1 1/2 days before finding in favor of Rita Guedes and against Dr. Garo Kassabian.

Guedes wept as she heard the verdict, but later smiled broadly as jurors hugged her as they left the courtroom. She later posed for photos with many of them in the hallway.

Guedes said she waited six years for this day.

"I didn't know how it would come out, I was very nervous," Guedes said.

Asked her opinion of her experience with the U.S. judicial system, Guedes said, "I hope it's the last one. It's been stressful."

Guedes, now 45, sued Kassabian in Santa Monica Superior Court in October 2011. The suit, which was tried in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleged that Guedes sought Botox treatments from Kassabian in July 2010 and that he instead suggested Radiesse, a dermal filler which he injected over both of her cheekbones, saying it would give her a more youthful look.

Kassabian repeated the procedure in January 2011, but Guedes' face became enlarged, swollen and uneven, according to her court papers. He later had an assistant use laser treatment to melt the Radiesse, but that caused her facial burns, the suit stated.

As a result, Guedes lost a lucrative, five-year Brazilian television deal in which she would have had a leading role, according to her lawsuit.

Guedes spent multiple hours testifying during the trial.

"Dr. Garo kept lying to me," Guedes testified with the help of a Portuguese-language interpreter. "I believed in him. He always said he was going to make me (appear) younger."

Asked by defense attorney David O'Keefe to elaborate on her complaints, Guedes said, "I didn't get the results I wanted; maybe I obtained the results he wanted."

Guedes said she implored Kassabian to restore her looks.

"All I wanted was for him to get the product out of my face," she said.

Michael Ruocco, one of Kassabian's attorneys, said he and O'Keefe will bring a motion asking Judge Joanne O'Donnell to reduce the damages to $250,000 under the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975, which puts such a cap on pain and suffering damages in cases involving medical malpractice.

During the trial, the lawyers showed jury members enlarged photos of how Guedes looked before and after the procedures. But Guedes maintained that some of the photos the defense showed jurors during the trial were altered to make it appear her face was normal just months after the January 2011 procedure.

Guedes said during an afternoon recess in mid-trial that it took two years of further treatments and medication to bring back her looks and allow her to get steady work again.

Brazilian independent film producer Meire Fenandes testified that Guedes was "really big in Brazil" and that in 2010 she considered the actress, known for starring in many soap operas, ideal to help her promote the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival awards night for a second year in a row in 2011.

"The paparazzi follow her wherever she goes," Fernandes said.

However, the problems with Guedes' face were so severe that the festival would have been overshadowed by speculation about what happened to her, Fernandes said.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock