RICHMOND, Va. — Breast surgeon Sasa Grae Espino permanently surrendered her license to practice medicine in Virginia on July 1 after a CBS 6 investigation into the care she provided patients.
The board entered into the consent order with Espino after she opted to surrender her license rather than go through disciplinary proceedings the board had been considering over alleged violations of Virginia code in her care and treatment of two former patients — Mandy Moore and Audrey Andrews.
As part of the order, the board stated Espino violated the regulations governing the practice of medicine in her care and treatment of both women.
Moore and Andrews, who share a birthday and are the first two of Espino's former patients CBS6 ever interviewed, met each other for the first time Thursday.
"We trusted someone that really messed us up, mentally and physically, absolutely," Andrews said.
The consent order states that a plastic surgeon who operated on Andrews after her procedure with Espino said Andrews had a severe deformity and that the operation performed by Espino was done so poorly it was not consistent with the standard of care.
The order also states that a breast surgeon who saw Moore after Espino left the Richmond Breast Center said Espino did not arrange for appropriate follow-up care for her patient, adding that if Moore had come to her prior to undergoing a cancer risk-reducing double mastectomy with implants, she would not have recommended the mastectomies.
"That was great news, I've been waiting for it for months," Moore said.
"I'm sorry it came to this where a lot of us got hurt, scarred for life, multiple surgeries, something that is not going to go away," Andrews said.
As part of the consent order, Espino did not admit nor deny the findings of fact and conclusions of law contained in the order.
As CBS6 previously reported, Espino is facing dozens of medical malpractice lawsuits filed since June of last year. The majority of the lawsuits claim she breached the standard of care by performing breast reconstruction surgeries she was "not qualified" to perform.
Espino's lawyers said in late February they deny all allegations of negligence in the lawsuits Espino had been served with. They stated her specialized fellowship education, training, and surgical experience qualifies her to perform breast reconstruction surgeries.
In March, CBS 6 reported that five people — including Moore, Andrews, and Richmond-area plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Montante — had filed complaints against Espino with the board since 2022. The board had previously declined to take disciplinary action on four of the complaints, including Andrews'. Two weeks after that story published, the board issued a statement of allegations against Espino.
"If you hadn't started airing these stories it never would have happened," Andrews said.
"I am just glad we put a stop to it and she can't do it in Virginia anymore. Amen," Andrews said.
Espino still holds an active medical license in Alabama. When asked whether the surrender of her Virginia license would affect her Alabama license, a spokesperson for the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners said, "The Board will take note of the surrender, but the surrender is not guaranteed to affect her AL license."
We reached out to Espino's lawyers to ask why she decided to surrender her license and if she plans to continue to work as a doctor elsewhere, and we are still waiting for a response.
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