Oyster Bay Councilwoman Vicky Walsh sues 'Most Beautiful' Roslyn surgeon, alleges stents collapsed after being implanted without her consent, court documents show

The agony that's taken over the life of Oyster Bay Town Councilwoman Vicki Walsh the past five years started with a $243 Groupon for the treatment of spider veins at a posh surgical clinic run by a pseudo-celebrity doctor.

But what began as a run-of-the-mill saline injection to remove damaged blood vessels years later has left Walsh in constant physical torment from the metal stents that were inserted in her pelvic region without her knowledge that have since collapsed and can no longer be removed, she said.

"It's really a big blur what happened to me," Walsh, 58, of East Norwich, told Newsday on Thursday, recounting publicly for the first time the details of the seemingly common procedure that changed her life — and pointing the blame at a now shuttered medical clinic run by Dr. David Greuner on Nassau's Gold Coast.

Walsh, a two-term Republican lawmaker, sued Greuner, his then-business partner Adam Tonis and their firm, NYC Surgical Associates, for negligence and medical malpractice in 2022, arguing the emergency surgery by Dr. Arno Rotgans, then a physician in the practice, was rushed, improperly performed and never actually needed. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.

Greuner, 49, of Manhattan, gained prominence after appearances on syndicated talk shows "The Doctors" and "Dr. Oz," on which he was named one of "America's Most Beautiful Doctors."

He has since been suspended from practicing medicine in three states, including New York; been sued more than a dozen times for malpractice; accused of dealing opioids to patients; and was arrested twice this summer in Nassau County for the alleged online stalking of Tonis and his family.

Greuner, who is now training to become an MMA fighter three years after falling from the roof of a seven-story condo, did not respond to requests for comment. His attorneys and those representing the other defendants also did not respond.

'Out of breath all the time'

In May 2018, almost two years before Walsh took office in Oyster Bay, she met with Greuner's associates at NYC Surgical Associates on Northern Boulevard in Roslyn after purchasing a $243 Groupon — discounted from $2,400 — for the treatment of spider veins in her legs. Greuner co-founded the firm in 2011.

Walsh, then working in real estate, said she underwent multiple treatments of spider veins — essentially clusters of damaged blood vessels — in 2018 and 2019 by Rotgans.

She would return in 2020 after NYC Surgical, which shuttered its door last year, offered Walsh a complimentary sonogram of her venous system to determine the source of the spider veins.

Walsh was placed under anesthesia, expecting Rotgans — who died of leukemia months later — to perform a minimally invasive test of the blood flow in her veins.

But when she awoke, Walsh said she learned Rotgans had implanted, without her consent, as many as six 18-by-20 mm stents into her pelvic region. Rotgans told Walsh, she said, that the ultrasound showed a serious blockage that required immediate surgery.

In the subsequent days and weeks, Walsh said she experienced sharp and stabbing pain in her groin and lower extremities that made it difficult to bend over or to drive.

The mother of three said she required daily injections of blood thinners by her husband, was forced to skip family trips and had difficulty sleeping for more than a few hours at a time.

"I couldn't understand what was happening," Walsh said. "I can't even move, especially my left side. I can't walk. I'm out of breath all the time."

Several weeks later, she returned to NYC Surgical to have what she believed to be one stent fixed and properly placed by Rotgans.

NYC Surgical billed Walsh's insurance company $400,000 for the pair of surgeries and procedures, records show.

Growing suspicious of the practice, Walsh said she began to research Greuner and his colleagues.

She would discover multiple online accounts of other Greuner patients who were offered free ultrasounds and then recommended immediate surgeries they unlikely needed.

Tonis, meanwhile, is a chiropractor who served as the chief executive of NYC Surgical, records show.

While Tonis did not perform surgeries at the practice and does not have a medical license, he has been named in several lawsuits that also named Greuner and the business, in some cases alleging he allowed unqualified doctors to operate. It was not immediately clear if Tonis is still practicing as a chiropractor.

'I need it out'

Amid all the chaos, the pandemic struck.

And with COVID-19 spreading rapidly across Long Island, Walsh's ability to seek treatment for her pain became more difficult.

After months of calls and emails, Walsh finally met with Greuner in his Manhattan office in June 2020, after feigning interest in another round of spider vein treatments, she said.

The councilwoman learned the extent of the damage from the stents.

Greuner, who previously lived in East Hampton, conceded the stents inserted by Rotgans were too large for Walsh's frame and had moved down her leg and were pressing on a nerve, according to his medical notes, which were included in the lawsuit file.

"I told him, ‘I need you to take it out. I need it out,’ ” Walsh said.

Greuner, she said, offered only to perform another sonogram.

Despondent, Walsh left the office and never returned.

Walsh was eventually treated in the emergency room of St. Francis Hospital, where a vascular surgeon told her the stents were never needed, had either broken apart or grown into the vein wall, and had since collapsed and were causing blood clots that required an emergency angioplasty.

Making matters worse, Walsh said she was told there were in fact multiple stents in her leg and they could never be removed as they could "shred" her veins.

Kevin McAndrew, a Melville attorney representing Walsh in her lawsuit, said NYC Surgical also lied to Walsh's insurance company, alleging falsely that she'd tried multiple treatments, including compression socks and physical therapy, before consenting to surgery.

"She never went through any of those things," McAndrew said. "But if they didn't do that, then they wouldn't have got approval for the surgery."

The lawsuit alleges Greuner and his team regularly provided false or misleading information to patients to convince them about the need for surgeries, which were then performed by poorly trained staff to increase the number of procedures that could be performed daily.

Another former doctor in Greuner's practice, records show, testified NYC Surgical employees were trained to "convert" patients from minor procedures to major ones to increase revenue.

"[Greuner] should never be allowed to get his license back and treat patients again," McAndrew said, adding the doctor has refused repeated attempts to sit down for a court-ordered deposition.

Greuner filed for bankruptcy in June, a move that has the potential to stall all civil litigation, including Walsh's case.

History of allegations

Greuner, who advertises himself as a general, thoracic and vascular surgeon, had his medical license suspended in New York, New Jersey and Florida, the three states where he'd been licensed to practice.

The New York State Office of Professional Misconduct, which had been investigating Greuner for unspecified "misconduct," suspended his license on April 19, 2023. The suspension letter does not detail the alleged misconduct and the state Health Department declined to provide additional details.

"The Department of Health takes all allegations of medical misconduct seriously and follows the statutory process to ensure a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation that is intended to protect the health and safety of patients," department spokeswoman Marissa Crary said in a statement.

In May 2023, the state Workers' Compensation Board suspended Greuner's authorization to treat injured workers, again citing unspecified "misconduct," while the Florida Department of Health suspended Greuner's license last year, records show.

And in late July, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office announced Greuner's license had been suspended for seven years for causing harm to three patients who suffered severe complications after undergoing catheter embolization procedures that required emergency surgeries and hospitalization. That attorney general's office, however, provided a set of conditions where Greuner could apply to get his license back within two years.

Greuner has not practiced in New Jersey since his medical license was first suspended in 2022 amid allegations his "inability or unwillingness to grasp the very fundamentals of vascular surgery and the practice of medicine in general" made him a danger to the public, records show.

Greuner also served as chief medical officer at the Center for Special Surgery in New Jersey. Center officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The surgeon has a long history of troubling accusations.

He was sued by a wealthy admitted opioid addict who accused Greuner of prescribing her almost 1,300 shots of Demerol and Dilaudid, highly powerful painkillers, in 2011 and 2012, in a scheme to keep her hooked on the drugs and paying up to $7,000 a day to support her habit. The case was ultimately dismissed because it was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.

Greuner was sued by a former female employee who alleges he exposed her to pornographic material, made improper sexual statements and regularly used cocaine and ketamine, records show.

At least a dozen patients have sued Greuner for medical malpractice involving allegations of informed consent or unnecessary surgeries.

In June, a New Jersey woman reached a $3.36 million malpractice settlement with Greuner and his former practice after alleging they performed 11 unnecessary embolization procedures that left her with permanent disfigurement.

In 2005, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in Arizona connected to his role in a crash that involved drag racing.

The IRS procured a judgment against Greuner for more than $2.1 million in unpaid taxes while liens have been entered against the doctor by multiple banks seeking to collect nearly $9 million in loans and debts, records show.

New arrests

More recently, Greuner was arrested twice in Nassau County this summer.

On June 14, he was charged with second-degree aggravated harassment and the fourth-degree stalking of Tonis and his family. Greuner has filed nine separate actions against Tonis, his former business partner, seeking more than $153 million in damages.

Prosecutors said between June 2 and 6, Greuner posted multiple pictures of Tonis on Instagram to his 219,000 followers, writing, "Run baby run" and "Bury his entire bloodline." Greuner also repeatedly messaged Tonis' wife and son-in-law, leaving the family in fear for their safety, according to charging documents.

"It was fun messing with him," Greuner told police, according to the documents. "I didn't think he would be afraid for his safety or anything. I won't be doing that anymore."

But on Sept. 1, Greuner was charged with second-degree criminal contempt and second-degree harassment after he ignored the court order to stay away from Tonis, making 61 additional Instagram posts about him.

Greuner pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on his own recognizance.

On social media, Greuner has recounted a near-death experience in 2022 in which he supposedly slipped on wet tiles and fell from the roof of his seventh-floor condo in Miami. The accident, he wrote, left him in a coma, with multiple broken bones, a collapsed lung and torn liver.

Since recovering, Greuner has told his followers he's training for a mixed martial arts fight in either New York or Dubai and has plans to one day to resume practicing medicine.

How Walsh copes

Meanwhile, Walsh said she's learning to live with her new reality.

She limits the number of political events she attends and avoids parades or concerts that involve extended walking or sitting.

She purposely leans to the right when sitting down to avoid the pressure she feels on her left side.

And she limits her driving and traveling and has had to give up skating, exercising and skiing.

"This happened to someone that they knew was going to be in an elected position," she said. "If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone."