San Diego

Complaints Filed Against Cosmetic Clinic Owners In San Diego; Clinic Now Closed

Dr. Daniel Hiser and Michelle Renee Naughton, R.N., have both been accused of wrongdoing by state boards.

The Medical Board of California has filed an accusation against Dr. Daniel Hiser, now working as a family practice physician in La Mesa, saying the doctor “demonstrated incompetence in his care and treatment of patients” at the now-closed cosmetic clinic he owned.

The accusation describes the history of the board’s investigation into Hiser and provides details about five patients who were clients of the doctor’s Timeless Age-Defying Laser Clinic, Inc. (TADLC) located in Mission Valley. The clinic offered a number of services including Botox and cellulite-type treatments, chemical peels and hair removal.

NBC 7 Investigates found other clinics with the same name that are still in operation but are not owned by Hiser and do not appear to have any connection to his Mission Valley clinic.

Hiser “served as the Medical Director of TADL” from about 2007 to 2015 but “never performed any procedures, never evaluated any patients and never created any medical procedure protocols.”

The doctor, according to the medical board’s accusation, signed off on documents saying all treatments “were to be conducted under the general supervision of the physician,” but had no training or experience in any of those treatments. According to the accusation, Hiser said he was at the clinic one day a week and available the rest of the week by phone or teleconference but the according to the accusation, five patients reported never being seen by him.

The accusation says Hiser signed off on prescriptions for each of the patients. Hiser is accused of gross negligence in each case because, according to the accusation, the doctor allowed a registered nurse to care and treat patients without prior consultation with the supervising physician.

He is also accused of “furnishing dangerous drugs without an appropriate prior examination.” The accusation against the doctor describes how an employee of the state’s Division of Investigations went undercover, visited the clinic and purchased a medicine, one that can only be dispensed with a prescription, despite never being seen by a health care provider at the clinic or receiving a prescription.

Calls to Hiser’s family practice office in La Mesa were not returned, but the accusation does note that, during an interview in February 2017, the doctor “denied having any ownership interest in TADLC at any time, but admitted to serving” as its Medical Director. He “claimed to be unaware of the requirement of prescriptions for various products offered at the clinic, but admitted signing prescriptions for ‘supplies’ at the clinic.”

A partner in the clinic, identified as “M.N.” and described in the doctor’s accusation as a registered nurse is listed on California Secretary of State records as the Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer of TADLC.

By checking the clinic’s ownership records and the Board of Registered Nursing records, NBC 7 Investigates discovered “M.N.” is Michelle Renee Naughton, also known as Michelle Renee Brown. According to the Board of Registered Nurse records, Naughton originally created the clinic with another partner who is not a licensed professional. Hiser, according to the medical board records, was later invited to be part of the corporation and became a 51% owner of TADLC.

In June 2013 the California Board of Registered Nursing filed an accusation against Naughton for “treating patients without proper direction by a physician, and without prescriptions for the dangerous drugs injected,” according to board records.

According to Board of Nursing records, the nurse was accused of making extravagant claims on the clinic’s website including, listing that she had experience in “working in the medical esthetics with a spa emphasis.” According to the board, “there is no recognized practice as a medical esthetician in California”.

Naughton was placed on probation in December 2013 and received an early termination of her probation in October of 2016.

Naughton has not responded to phone calls and a letter seeking her response

NBC 7 Investigates is reporting on medical professionals accused by the public and the California Medical Board of wrongdoing in order to bring information to the public and increase transparency of medical practices in the San Diego region. Currently, this information is reported by the Medical Board on its website. It is not required to be disclosed by medical professionals to their patients.

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