Manitoba·NewA Manitoba woman who dealt with her own plastic surgery nightmare is speaking out, after a plastic surgeon who has already faced multiple disciplinary actions over the course of his career was once again suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. Dr. Manfred Ziesmann has faced multiple disciplinary actions over the course of his decades-long career. Dave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2025 10:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesMelanie Drain says she is angry and frustrated after learning that Dr. Manfred Ziesmann was once again suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. (Submitted by Melanie Drain)A Manitoba woman who dealt with her own plastic surgery nightmare is speaking out, after a plastic surgeon who has already faced multiple disciplinary actions over the course of his career was once again suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. “Everybody makes mistakes and we learn from them, but he’s not learning from them,” Melanie Drain said. “He just keeps going back to what he was doing before. “He just keeps doing it and getting away with it, and how many people can you harm before something worse can happen?”Winnipeg-based plastic surgeon Dr. Manfred Ziesmann was handed an interim suspension on Oct. 15, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba assistant registrar of complaints and investigations Dr. Guillaume Poliquin confirmed in a Monday email. “The decision was made in the interest of protecting the public in the interim, pending ongoing proceedings,” Poliquin said.This is not the first time Ziesmann, who has been licensed as a plastic surgeon since 1987, has faced disciplinary action over the course of his career. During a March College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba disciplinary hearing, he pleaded guilty to professional misconduct while providing care to three patients who had post-surgery complications between 2012 and 2023, and was suspended from practising medicine for six weeks, and ordered to pay more than $34,000 in costs. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has handed down another suspension to Winnipeg-based plastic surgeon Dr. Manfred Ziesmann. (CBC)Prior to the most recent suspension, Ziesmann was already practising under several terms and conditions, but the suspension supersedes those, according to Poliquin.Drain, who lives in Stony Mountain, north of Winnipeg, filed both a lawsuit against Ziesmann and a complaint with the college in 2016, after a 2010 incident that saw the end of a drainage tube left inside her breast for more than six years.She says the piece of equipment broke off when Ziesmann pulled on the tube days after he performed a breast reduction surgery on her.“He yanked on it really hard and it made a popping sound, and it came out with a broken end,” Drain said. When she asked Ziesmann if the tube had broken in her breast she said his response was “well maybe.”“He just brushed it right off,” Drain said. She says the tube was finally discovered when she had a CT scan done in 2016 after she started noticing a painful lump on the breast. In 2017, Ziesmann was reprimanded by the college for the incident and ordered to take a record-keeping course, with the college determining he had failed to include enough information in her medical record.Drain said at the time she found that decision insulting after what she went through.She also filed a lawsuit that same year against Ziesmann which she ended up winning in 2023, after a judge concluded that he breached the standard of care expected of a diligent doctor and “tried to downplay the possibility that the drain had broken and did not himself offer followup to confirm whether the drain had broken, even though he likely believed it had.”Drain said she is angry that Ziesmann continues to be allowed to practise after years of complaints and temporary suspensions, and she is asking the college to take complaints against him more seriously.“It’s just so frustrating to see he’s back in the news doing the same thing and learning nothing from suspensions,” she said. “He’s been practising since the ’80s. How do you go to work and not do your job properly?”While pleading guilty in the March hearing, Ziesmann admitted to displaying “a lack of knowledge, skill and judgment in the practice of medicine” in all three cases, according to a May 25 written decision. Following that, he was allowed to resume practising, but under “lengthy conditions” to maintain professional standards and public safety, the decision said. Those conditions included restricting him from performing any surgery unless a skilled co-surgeon was in attendance, and had endorsed his surgical plan.The panel’s March decision also stated it was informed of six prior complaints in which he was “criticized and/or provided with advice or reminders regarding obtaining informed consent from patients, his vigilance in follow-up care, and the accuracy and completeness of clinical documentation.”According to Poliquin, the suspension announced this week was made in accordance with the Regulated Health Professions Act, that states that the chair of the investigations committee “may direct the registrar to suspend or place conditions on the investigated member’s registration or certificate of practice pending the outcome of proceedings, if they consider it necessary to protect the public from exposure to serious risk.”He added the suspension is not a result of an inquiry panel decision, and therefore there is no resolution order, or public document explaining the reasons for the suspension, and the suspension has not been listed on the college’s website. Poliquin said he could offer no further comment on the suspension. CBC reached out to Ziesmann for comment, but did not receive a response. ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.
Plastic surgeons latest suspension leaves Manitoba woman angry, frustrated
