New York woman claims laser treatment left her with blistering burns

Maria Natale, 52, says a dermatologist told her it will take up to a year for the second-degree burns on her stomach and back to heal — and she will be left with permanent scarring.

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A Long Island mom went for a routine laser treatment to remove sunspots — and ended up with dozens of blistering burns all over her body, she claims in a lawsuit.

Maria Natale, 52, says a dermatologist told her it will take up to a year for the second-degree burns on her stomach and back to heal — and she will be left with permanent scarring.

“The pain was so bad, I actually started trembling,’’ Natale told The Post, recalling her car ride home from South Shore Laser of Babylon, LI. “I thought, ‘Hurry up and get home and take the clothes off!’”

Natale, a mother of three, had already successfully gone to Laser employee Michelle Salice for hair removal, so she didn’t hesitate to consult the worker again for what she thought would be a standard procedure for the sunspots on her back and stomach on March 26, according to the Suffolk County Court lawsuit she filed this month.

But as the laser was being administered to her sunspots, Natale said, she screamed to Salice, “‘It burns, it’s burning!

“[Salice] said, ‘It’s normal,’ ” Natale said.

Immediately after, Natale’s skin burned and was very red, but Salice reassured her several times that it was all routine and part of the process, said the plaintiff, who is suing South Shore Laser and its Laser Clinique center, as well as Salice.

After an excruciating ride home, Natale said she began to see red stripes appear all over her body in the shape of the laser that was used.

“They started off as red stripes, and then it started blistering. The pain was horrific,” Natale recalled.

The mom said she went back to the laser clinic and showed the owner her burns.

“Oh, my God! This has never happened before,” Natale said the owner responded, handing her burn spray and cortisone cream.

Natale — who recently moved to Florida — now can’t expose any of her laser-damaged skin to sunlight, she claims. She adds that her skin is even sensitive to the sun when covered by clothing.

Natale said she had to cancel an upcoming trip to Puerto Rico because she was in pain and couldn’t enjoy the sun.

Her lawsuit alleges that the treatment was “performed negligently, carelessly, recklessly, and in such a manner” that “resulted in severe and extensive burning to the skin.”

“She wants justice for herself and her injuries and wants to prevent this from happening to other people,” said Natale’s lawyer, Michael Kutner.

The two laser businesses did not return repeated phone requests for comment. The Post could not find a working number for Salice, but messages left for her at South Shore, as well as at another local business that confirmed she also worked there part-time, were not returned.

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