By Steve Dow
America's penis implant king Paul Perito has extended his services to Australia, operating on 29 patients suffering erection problems in the past two weeks.
The South Florida medico is in Australia demonstrating his innovative technique, which takes 10 to 20 minutes, using an incision at the top rather than underneath the penis.
"Impressive" ... Dr Paul Perito heads into surgery with Dr Chris Love in Melbourne.Credit: Craig Sillitoe
Sydney surgeons called Dr Perito a ''superb operator'', and said his method was ''impressive'', with less post-operative pain.
In 2004, he was arrested on allegations he was involved in the sale of diluted AIDS and cancer drugs, including through a strip club he co-owned. But in February, he entered a ''pre-trial diversion'' program with the state of Florida and all charges pending against him were dismissed.
''I actually invested in people that were engaged in illegal activity,'' Dr Perito explained to The Sun-Herald between operations last week.
Until 2004, Dr Perito was the co-owner with his then business partner Nicholas Just of a strip club, Playpen South, in Florida.
''Yeah, that was my investment,'' said Dr Perito. ''I tell you what, if there's any advice to give anybody - don't ever do anything you're not trained in doing.''
The two men had faced charges including racketeering, product tampering and selling counterfeit goods.
A Florida state law enforcement agent, Gary Venema, said last week the prosecution elected not to pursue the case against Dr Perito after a key witness, a former strip club employee nicknamed Rocky, withdrew his co-operation because the state wouldn't grant him a private investigator's licence.
Mr Venema said Mr Just meanwhile had sustained a head injury and after waking from a coma was found incompetent to stand trial.
In February, Dr Perito was ordered to pay $75,000 of profits plus costs, said an assistant Florida state prosecutor, Stephen ImMasche.
Mr ImMasche said Dr Perito was ''going through a bad phase'' when he had become involved with the strip club.
''Paul Perito was not cut from the same cloth as the people he was doing business with or associating with at that club,'' Mr ImMasche said. ''He's fairly well-to-do and well respected.''
Phillip Katelaris, a consultant urologist with the Seventh Adventist Hospital at Wahroonga, said he had operated with Dr Perito on patients on Monday, and was aware of the charges that had been against him for six years, but not the details.
''I can only judge the man from what I saw and he is a very, very good surgeon, a very good technician,'' Dr Katelaris said.
Gerry Testa, another Sydney urological surgeon on whose patient Dr Perito operated, said he was not aware of the 2004 case.
''I'm surprised that I'm hearing this from you,'' Dr Testa said. ''He's a good surgeon.''
Dr Perito said of the case: ''There's three things men fear, right?'' he said. ''Pain, death and humiliation. To be humiliated for something you didn't do - and, of course, no one wants to write about me being [cleared].''