The production company behind “The Doctors” was sued by a woman who alleges she was lured to appear on the program with false promises that the show would pay for surgeries needed to remove benign tumors from her legs.
Loretta Brinkworth filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Stage 29 Productions LLC, alleging intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She seeks unspecified damages.
Stage 29 made commitments to Brinkworth without first receiving a medical opinion about whether she was a proper candidate for the surgeries, the suit states.
“Stage 29 was primarily concerned about making a television show and was completely unconcerned about whether it could keep its promises to plaintiff or about the effect on plaintiff if those promises were broken,” the suit states.
A Stage 29 representative could not be immediately reached.
The suit states Brinkworth’s daughter reached out to the producers of “The Doctors” on her mother’s behalf in September 2013 to see if Brinkworth could appear as a guest and be treated for lipomas on her legs that she had developed 15 years earlier.
Two months later a producer called Brinkworth and said Stage 29 was interested in having her on “The Doctors,” the suit states.
The company requested medical information from Brinkworth and sent a camera operator to Brinkworth’s home to record her and her family in connection with her possible appearance on the show, according to the lawsuit.
Brinkworth was ultimately selected to be on the program, the suit states. She and her family went to Paramount Studios on Nov. 21, 2013, for the taping, according to the lawsuit.
Dr. Andrew Ordon, a co-host of the “The Doctors,” marked Brinkworth’s lipomas with a black pen and said, “We are going to remove this,” the suit states.
Ordon was “very specific” and told Brinkworth she would need to undergo multiple surgeries, according to the lawsuit.
However, even as Ordon was prepared for surgery in the operating room in April, Ordon refused to proceed, the suit states. Stage 29 told her the surgery was being rescheduled for May, according to the lawsuit.
But a day before the new surgery date Ordon’s assistant called Brinkworth and told her the doctor would not be treating her after all because she was “not a good candidate for the surgery,” the suit states.
“Stage 29’s broken promises and the ordeal they put (Brinkworth) through has left plaintiff devastated,” the suit states.
Brinkworth has suffered depression, stress, anxiety attacks and had difficulty sleeping because of Stage 29’s conduct, according to the lawsuit.
