Adams’ decision comes nearly two years after the Medical Board of California sought to revoke or suspend his license because of multiple alcohol-related convictions. His license to practice medicine has already been suspended since June 25, 2008. He was not allowed to renew it because of his failure to comply with a family order, such as alimony or child support.

 

Adams’ world turned upside down last year, after Donda West, mother of rapper Kanye West, died in November 2007 following cosmetic surgery performed by him. A coroner’s report established that she likely died of heart disease and complications from the tummy tuck and breast reduction procedure.

 

The correctness of Adams’ procedure was immediately questioned. He has denied wrongdoing in her death.

 

In January 2008, Adams was a guest on Larry King’s CNN show and reiterated his self-defense. He said he needed a second chance to defend himself and to set the record straight and confessed that the publicity received after the death of West had affected his practice “horribly” and that it was “almost destroyed.”

 

"As far as I'm concerned ... at least the autopsy report suggests nothing went on during surgery, nothing went on during recovery," Adams told Larry King in January 2008.

 

He also defended himself by saying that being a public figure – as host of the series “Plastic Surgery: Before and After” for five years – turned him into a target for bad publicity and lawsuits.