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Cosmetic surgeon files for bankruptcy and surrenders license amid malpractice claims • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]

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Date: 2025-06-30

An Iowa judge has paused a malpractice case against a cosmetic surgeon who recently surrendered her license after being charged with professional incompetence.

In May 2025, the Iowa Board of Medicine charged Dr. Lindsay Sturm of Sturm Cosmetic Surgery in Ames with professional incompetence, which includes failure by a physician to exercise a degree of care ordinarily exercised by the average physician.

The board alleged Sturm failed to meet the standard of care in patient selection by failing to recognize body dysmorphia in a patient and failing to select the appropriate operation for another patient. According to the board, Sturm was also alleged to have failed to meet the standard of care for consent by failing to obtain signed consent forms for certain procedures, and is alleged to have failed to adequately follow up with patients after surgery.

Board records indicate that Sturm, without admitting any wrongdoing, opted not to contest the charges and agreed to voluntarily surrender her license. She will be eligible to seek reinstatement of her license in two years.

The board’s action followed the initiation of three separate investigations into Sturm. Two of those board investigations originated in 2023 and one was launched in 2024.

In May 2024, the family of Angela Kettwig sued Sturm and Sturm Cosmetic Surgery in Story County District Court. According to the lawsuit, Sturm performed liposuction and an abdominoplasty on Kettwig in March 2023.

During the surgery, Sturm allegedly caused injuries to Kettwig that led to a massive hemorrhage, and Kettwig died from cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to acute blood loss anemia and hypovolemic shock. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for negligence and loss of parental consortium.

Sturm denied any wrongdoing in the case, asserting that any injuries suffered by Kettwig were “caused by pre-existing conditions or acts which these answering defendants have no control.” A trial was scheduled for Feb. 10, 2026. However, on June 14, 2025, Sturm filed for bankruptcy. As a result, the Kettwig family’s malpractice lawsuit has been stayed by a Polk County judge while the bankruptcy case moves forward.

According to the bankruptcy court filings, Sturm’s gross personal income in 2023 was $269,000. She and her husband have claimed $5.9 million in assets and $5.3 million in liabilities.

Two malpractice lawsuits pending

Sturm is also being sued by another former patient, Joseph Kaissi, who claims he went to Sturm Cosmetic Surgery on Jan. 25, 2022, for a consultation and was immediately recommended for a surgical procedure to correct the separation of abdominal muscles. Two days later, Sturm performed the operation at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames.

The lawsuit claims the procedure was a “risky and unnecessary” operation, that Sturm failed to treat Kaissi’s hematoma and failed to exercise the appropriate degree of acceptable surgical technique. Kaissi alleges he sustained “serious and permanent injuries” as a result of the operation.

Sturm has denied any wrongdoing and asserted any injuries were caused by preexisting conditions or acts over which Sturm had no control. A jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2025.

Kaissi’s attorneys have asked that their case not be stayed by Sturm’s bankruptcy filing. They argue that Sturm’s liability is covered by an insurance policy with limits of up to $1 million per claim and an annual aggregate cap of $3 million. They are asking to proceed with their case with the understanding that any recovery will be limited to what the insurance company pays, ensuring none of Sturm’s debtors will be harmed by the payout.

Former employee suing Sturm

Sturm Cosmetic Surgery is also facing a lawsuit filed by a former employee and registered nurse, Tonya Becker. In her lawsuit, Becker claims she was responsible for assisting Sturm with cosmetic surgeries and overseeing patients’ post-anesthesia care at the Ames clinic.

The lawsuit alleges Sturm fired Becker in 2024, a year after hiring her, and that the dismissal was due to Becker “refusing to compromise patient safety, rejecting illegal and unethical directives, and standing up against a toxic work environment.”

Becker claims that while working at the clinic, she “discovered numerous unethical and inappropriate practices that jeopardized patient safety,” in part by falsely informing a patient she had performed treatments on both hips when, in fact, only the right hip was treated.

The lawsuit also alleges Sturm allowed scrub technicians to assist in closing patient incisions, despite the fact that they were not licensed to perform such tasks, and that discarding expired medication was against the clinic’s policy as it was considered wasteful.

In early 2024, the lawsuit claims, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services performed a nonpunitive site visit, as requested by the clinic, to examine infection control procedures. The lawsuit alleges DHHS identified several deficiencies that were then “brushed off” by clinic management as unimportant.

In an April 2024 staff meeting, Sturm allegedly cried and stated that she had to personally cover the $17,000 cost of discarding expired medications and blamed the staff for being wasteful by discarding the drugs.

In addition to claiming wrongful termination and age discrimination, Becker is also suing Sturm for sexual harassment, alleging that in 2023 Sturm instructed a colleague to purchase a “rainbow-tail dildo.” Sturm gave the device to a nurse during a staff meeting and workers later made lewd jokes about it, even while patients were under anesthesia for surgical procedures, the lawsuit claims.

In a January 2024 surgical meeting with Sturm, the lawsuit alleges, a scrub tech showed the entire team a Reddit video of a male doctor masturbating. “The group laughed and commented on the size of (the doctor’s) penis,” the lawsuit claims.

On other occasions, a scrub tech allegedly exposed her breasts during a surgical meeting after a colleague commented on her bra and, in a hallway, lifted her skirt and exposed herself while colleagues danced and chanted.

Sturm and the clinic have denied any wrongdoing. A jury trial is scheduled Sept. 29, 2026. Although the case was initially stayed due to Sturm’s bankruptcy filing, the case is now proceeding with only the clinic named as a defendant.

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[1] Url: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/06/30/cosmetic-surgeon-files-for-bankruptcy-and-surrenders-license-amid-malpractice-claims/

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