CONTROVERSIAL surgeon Christopher Johnson has set up his own practice providing cosmetic surgery.

Dr. Johnson, a US citizen who arrived in Bermuda two years ago after being employed by the Elan Clinic, is in an ongoing dispute with hospital nurses who refuse to work with the physician.

And last month the revealed that Dr. Johnson moved to the island only after his career in the US had been ?destroyed?.

The doctor was reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank following a dispute with his former employer, a hospital in California, which refused to renew Dr. Johnson?s hospital privileges after receiving 19 complaints about his conduct. The National Practitioner Data Bank is ?an alert, or flagging system intended to facilitate a comprehensive review of health care practitioners? professional credentials?.

Dr. Johnson, who said he was openly gay in American court documents filed when he sued his former employer, married a Bermudian woman last month.

An advertisement in yesterday?s read: ?Dr. Johnson is pleased to announce the grand opening of his new office, International Plastic Surgery Associates.

?Dr. Johnson is now available for immediate and confidential consultations with patients requesting all areas of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.?

Elan Clinic owner Dr. Bruce Lattyak could not be contacted by this newspaper to comment on his new competitor.