SUGAR LAND, Texas (Covering Katy News) — A Sugar Land plastic surgeon accused of operating drunk has lost his ability to operated until further notice.
The Texas Medical Board pulled Dr. Azul Shirazali Jaffer's license Dec. 30, barring him from treating patients until further notice.
The suspension came days after Jaffer's lawyer told a Fort Bend County judge the medical board had already looked into similar claims and found nothing wrong. Attorney Troy McKinney said "the same complaint" had been made to the medical board, which "found no merit to the claims," a video recording of the hearing shows.
McKinney could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. A Texas Medical Board spokesman also could not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Fort Bend County grand jury indicted Jaffer last month on one count of performing surgery while intoxicated. A magistrate set his bond at $5,000 during a Dec. 24 hearing, and Jaffer is no longer in custody at the Fort Bend County Jail, court records show.
The suspension order accuses Jaffer of regularly using "drugs or intoxicating liquors" that kept him from practicing medicine safely, according to medical board records.
Medical board documents detail seven occasions between July 3 and Aug. 12 when Jaffer allegedly showed up drunk to perform procedures or was too impaired to operate, forcing staff to cancel surgeries, according to the order.
Staff discovered a liquor bottle hidden in a paper towel holder in the men's bathroom on July 9. Three weeks later, workers watched Jaffer "stumbling to the men's restroom where the container of liquor was found" while performing surgery on Aug. 5, according to the order.
The surgeon appeared drunk while giving a patient Botox injections on Aug. 4 and during a tummy tuck and breast enlargement surgery on Aug. 12, according to the order.
During the Aug. 12 operation, Jaffer reeked of alcohol, couldn't stand steady and made inappropriate remarks to a surgical technician, according to the order.
Jaffer has held a Texas medical license since 2009, according to medical board records. His Sugar Land clinic, Azul Plastic Surgery, advertises procedures for the face, breasts and body.
A separate lawsuit filed last year claims Jaffer sexually assaulted a patient following a 2022 breast augmentation, according to Fort Bend County court records. That case remains unresolved.
The lawsuit states the patient reported the incident to Sugar Land police, but court records show no criminal charges against Jaffer before his current indictment. Sugar Land police have said they are not currently investigating any claims connected to the civil case.