Dr. Jan Adams 'lost a friend' - Video

By M&C People Jan 31, 2008, 17:44 GMT

01/26/2008 - Mario Lopez - © PRN / PR Photos

In a candid new interview, controversial plastic surgeon Dr. Jan Adams tells Mario Lopez for Extra that his personal and professional life have been devastated by the death of Donda West.

“I didn’t just lose a patient, I lost a friend.”

Mirroring what he told Larry King on CNN, the plastic surgeon whose practice has been gutted, reveals he was by West’s side throughout the weekend after surgery and before she died saying, “I essentially was there the whole time. I talked to her. I talked to the family. I met them at the hospital.”

Lopez asked Adams, “Have you performed surgery these last few months?” Adams responds, “Yeah. I’ve done a few surgeries. Not a whole lot. Certainly not what we’re used to doing.

Adams also defends Oprah who referred West to Adams.

He says, “I felt the media was kind of hard on Oprah. Here’s this wonderful lady who’s sort of devoted her life to helping people and they tried to ridicule her about somebody having been referred through her…”

Adams told “Extra” that he is not angry with the media saying, “I think the media are human beings doing a job.”

Also, Adams explains why he didn’t publicly discuss the details of West’s surgery citing doctor/patient confidentiality. “Truly, the hard part is to sit there and shut up while all this is going on,” Adams explains.

Shortly after the death of Donda West, Adams was scheduled to appear on Larry King Live, but infamously walked out during the live taping. Adams explains why he left the show saying, “I thought it was the appropriate thing to do…If it’s against the law for me to talk about a patient…Isn’t it against the law for a reporter to ask me?...I think I did Larry a favor.”

He reappeared on King's show last week.

There’s always the possibility of a civil lawsuit from the family and Lopez asks if he anticipates one. Adam’s lawyer who sat by his side responds, “Frankly, I think we'll just have to wait and see.  I don't necessarily anticipate that but one can never tell.”

When asked if Adams had a message for the West family, he responded, “No, not particularly…It’s time to grieve and grieving is very difficult…I’ll certainly make myself available [to the West family] when appropriate.”

On what he’s learned from this experience, Adams responded, “What’s really the proof of the pudding is how you react to them [bad things], so I chose to honor my agreement with the patient and I chose to say to myself, anger isn’t the way to solve it. The way to solve it is good information.”

To see the Dr. Jan Adams interview, tune in to “Extra” on Thursday, January 31st and for all the latest celebrity news, log on here

Larry King and Dr. Jan Adams-2nd appearance: