An embattled plastic surgeon whose license has been suspended in three states in recent months is seeking a court injunction in Illinois that would allow him to continue treating patients at his Chicago clinic.
Lawyers for Dr. Ayoub Sayeg allege in a civil complaint filed Wednesday that state regulators committed errors in their handling of the temporary suspension, which came shortly after a Tribune investigation found eight Sayeg patients died following tummy tuck procedures over a seven-year period in Chicago.
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The law allows the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to take action against a physician’s license without an administrative hearing if it has evidence that the doctor’s continued practice presents “an immediate danger” to the public. The surgeon’s lawyers allege that, three months after the July 7 suspension, regulators have yet to disclose what evidence they relied on to take the “extraordinary” action.
“The temporary suspension order expressly relies on a petition (by the chief of medical prosecutions) that had not been served on (Sayeg), disclosed in the hearing materials, or introduced into the administrative record,” the complaint states. “… The Department has not identified a specific patient injury, adverse event, medication error, surgical complication, or other clinical occurrence demonstrating an immediate threat.”
The complaint, filed in Sangamon County, asks a judge to impose an injunction against the state, thus lifting the temporary suspension. The civil filing names as defendants the state department and the director of its division of professional regulation. Sayeg is seeking an expedited court hearing in Springfield. As of Friday, it had not been scheduled.
“The (suspension) has deprived Dr. Sayeg of the ability to practice medicine and to financially support himself and his family, and continues to cause professional, financial and reputational harm,” said the lawsuit, filed by the Goldberg Law Group of Chicago.
A spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation declined to comment Friday other than to say: “We look forward to the matter being addressed through the trial process, where the facts can be presented and considered in the appropriate forum.” The Illinois attorney general’s office, which will represent the department in court, also declined, citing the pending litigation.
Sayeg, 58, who lives in Michigan and became licensed there in late 2001, runs a clinic called Your New Looks in West Bloomfield. In 2013 he opened 63 Laser & Skin Clinic in Illinois. Sayeg has long traveled between the states to perform tummy tucks, liposuction, breast augmentations, face-lifts and other procedures.
Regulators inspected his Chicago clinic less than two weeks after the Tribune reported on June 7 that the state had not disciplined the longtime surgeon despite multiple patient deaths in Illinois. The patients, all women, died shortly after surgeries Sayeg had performed at his clinic, located at 3918 W. 63rd St. in a predominantly Latino neighborhood.
Six died from complications of plastic surgery, according to public records, and the other two overdosed on pain medication at home. Each surgery involved a tummy tuck and at least one other procedure, typically liposuction.
Illinois officials began investigating Sayeg after receiving a complaint in October 2020 regarding the death of Idalia Corcoles, a 39-year-old Chicago mother of four who died the previous year. Her family sued Sayeg and his anesthesiologist in 2021, and jurors delivered a $56 million verdict in 2024.
Three more of Sayeg’s patients died of complications from surgery as the state licensing investigation was pending. It wasn’t until September 2025, nearly five years after the state began investigating Sayeg, that the department filed an official complaint alleging the doctor’s conduct violated the Illinois Medical Practice Act, state records show.
Sayeg’s new complaint alleges that the department’s chief medical coordinator initiated the process to inspect the surgeon’s Chicago clinic on June 9, two days after the Tribune published its findings. On June 17, the Illinois Medical Board found “probable cause” existed to conduct the inspection.
The next day, the department’s chief of investigations and another investigator conducted the inspection. The department subpoenaed Sayeg on June 23, seeking various required documentation. On July 7, Illinois temporarily suspended Sayeg’s license, alleging he had failed to provide proof of continuing medical education regarding anesthesia services as well as a certified registered nurse anesthetist’s advanced cardiac life support certification.
According to Sayeg’s complaint, he complied with the subpoena for materials before the temporary suspension went into effect, but the state has argued in its administrative proceedings that more investigation is merited.
The surgeon’s complaint also alleges other procedural errors, including that the state affidavit in support of the requested inspection is dated June 18, not June 9.
“The citizens of Illinois including its health care professionals are entitled to know that its government agencies are following Illinois law,” attorney Michael Goldberg said Friday in an emailed statement to the Tribune. “This case highlights how we are all vulnerable when administrative bodies don’t function properly.”
Besides seeking the court injunction, Sayeg has been fighting Illinois’ temporary suspension through the department’s administrative hearing process. A pretrial hearing in that matter is scheduled to begin Oct. 16.
Illinois officials also still are pursuing their 2020 complaint against Sayeg regarding Corcoles’ death. The department amended it this year to include allegations involving another patient, Crystal Walker Keating, 47, of Iowa, who died in late 2018.
Illinois officials have pledged to pursue the maximum penalty against Sayeg to bar him permanently from practicing in the state. They also said they are performing an internal review of how the department handled Sayeg’s case and they plan to pursue changes to state laws to help accelerate the disciplinary process in similar cases.
Sayeg also is licensed in Virginia, Michigan and California. Citing the Illinois suspension, Virginia issued a mandatory suspension order Aug. 4. Michigan regulatory authorities meted out a summary suspension late last month based on the Virginia suspension and complaints from two Michigan women who allege Sayeg botched their 2024 surgeries.