New Jersey authorities have shut down the license of an Essex County-based doctor on accusations he was improperly performing invasive cosmetic surgeries, including non-surgical penile and breast enhancement procedures, officials said.

Dr. Muhammad A. Mirza consented to having his license temporarily suspended pending a hearing before an administrative law judge and state medical authorities. Mirza is board-certified internist from Cedar Grove.

State authorities say he traveled to dozens of rented locations throughout New Jersey and neighboring states performing “invasive aesthetic procedures with inadequate formal training and little regard for the health and safety of his patients,” Acting state Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck announced Tuesday.

Mirza advertises and performs his services through his Mirza Aesthetics practice, which he operates primarily from rental spaces in those states, which also include Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New York.

“Patients who seek cosmetic procedures are entitled to safe and appropriate care by properly trained professionals who put their health and safety above all else,” Bruck said in a statement. “We will not allow doctors to take advantage of patients’ desires to look and feel better about themselves by subjecting them to medically inappropriate procedures that expose them to grave harm and permanent disfigurement.”

The doctor would see up to 30 patients a day in “makeshift spaces with substandard protocols for medical recordkeeping, patient follow-up, and storage of medical supplies, including products that require refrigeration and strict temperature control,” Bruck added.

The state alleged in a complaint filed with the State Board of Medical Examiners, which made the decision to seek the suspension, that Mirza’s improper use of certain dermal fillers for off-label purposes “poses a clear and imminent danger to the public.”

In one case, he used an injectable dermal filler in a nonsurgical penile enhancement procedure that caused permanent harm to a patient who suffered complications that required his hospitalization, where he underwent two emergency surgical interventions, the Attorney General’s Office alleges. When asked about it by an emergency room doctor, Mirza did not accurately disclose the exact filler he used which made it harder for physicians to care for the patient.

In other situations, he used an off-label injectable dermal filler close to patients’ eyes which, if done incorrectly, could have led to loss of vision or permanent blindness, the office said. He also allegedly used an off-label filler for breast enhancement that could obscure patient’s mammogram results and another without performing skin allergy tests on patients before starting procedures.

Other patient complaints included that he failed to wear a mask or surgical gloves while performing procedures, used high pressure tactics, failed to respond to post-procedure complaints and/or requests for records and performed aesthetic procedures in an area described as a “small storage closet” and “closet area with a bench,” Bruck said in the statement.

An inspection of his office in Summit showed that its examination/treatment area had only chairs and a fold-away table, with no medical examination table and that his injectable fillers were stored in “duffle bags,” and not in medical storage refrigerators, the office said.

Mizra has denied the allegations, the statement said.

In the meantime, he will not be allowed to practice medicine in New Jersey or treat his patients in any other state where he is licensed to do so, including New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Patients who believed that they have been treated by a licensed health care professional in an inappropriate manner can file an online complaint with the state Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.

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