BOSTON -- A cosmetic surgeon filed a defamation lawsuit against a patient who posted Internet photos of what she said was botched surgery and called him a "butcher."

Dr. Joel Feldman, a former board member of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, told The Boston Globe his lawsuit against Lucille Iacovelli, 52, was necessary to defend "my reputation and the caring that I've given to my patients."

The last straw, he said, came in March when a woman walked into his Cambridge office with Iacovelli's photos and canceled surgery.

In an interview published Tuesday in the Globe, Iacovelli said she was forced to go public because Feldman was trying to silence her and she couldn't get her concerns addressed medically. She said she wanted to sue him, but her lawyer told her he couldn't get an expert witness to back her.

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