Dr. Adair Blackledge, a physician who practiced facial plastic surgery in the Jackson area for 22 years and was the subject of a five-month Mississippi Today investigation in September, surrendered his state medical license Dec. 31, according to an order accepting the surrender published by the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure.
Blackledge was under investigation by the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure — the state agency that licenses and regulates physicians — for allegations of professional incompetency, unprofessional conduct and dishonorable or unethical behavior likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public, the order says. Board minutes show that the board approved an investigative subpoena for the case in March.
Blackledge, of office-based facial plastic surgery practice Blackledge Face Center, denied wrongdoing and surrendered his license to retire from medicine and resolve the board’s investigation, the order writes. The signage for Blackledge Face Center had been removed from the building’s facade as of Sunday.
Blackledge did not respond to Mississippi Today’s request for comment by publication time Monday. Board of Medical Licensure spokesperson Cara Shirley declined to answer questions about the surrender, writing in an email that “the Board does not comment on matters related to Board business.”
Mississippi Today’s reporting showed that Blackledge performed facelifts about three times more quickly than what other plastic surgeons considered average. He also employed some practices other doctors said were uncommon, such as instructing patients to remove their staples themselves after surgery and performing post-operative visits at hotel rooms for patients who traveled to Mississippi for surgery.
Blackledge said in July he used a sleeping pill and a sedative, anti-anxiety medication to sedate most patients before surgery, a drug combination other doctors told Mississippi Today could make it difficult for patients to breathe during surgery. Blackledge also said he was trained using the regimen and has never had an adverse event related to anesthesia administration.
He also said there is no way to compare the amount of time a facelift takes to another because each one involves different techniques and areas of the face.
Mississippi Today’s investigation also showed Blackledge was not board certified in any specialty medical field, a credential that is not required to practice plastic surgery in Mississippi. Some experts, however, say certification improves patient safety by demonstrating that a doctor has trained extensively in a field and is capable of performing certain procedures.
Patients interviewed by Mississippi Today last year described a range of complications, including nasal indentations and infections, prominent scarring, a cheek implant that burst through the skin and wounds that reopened and required medical attention. They recounted quick procedures, results that didn’t last and repeated revisions, or procedures to correct or improve past surgeries.
It is uncommon for a physician to surrender a medical license, and it is not typical for a doctor to surrender a license upon retirement, said Dr. Randy Easterling, a Vicksburg physician who previously served on the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure for 12 years. Easterling said he does not have knowledge of Blackledge’s case and cannot speak on behalf of the medical board. He also could not speak specifically about Blackledge’s license.
“Usually a surrender of license — generally speaking — is when there’s so much evidence against the physician that you don’t want to have a hearing,” he said. “Because if you go to a hearing, there will be stuff to come out that maybe you don’t want the public to know.”
If an investigation is concluded without the initiation of disciplinary action, all records of the investigation and proceedings remain confidential, according to Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure policy.
Blackedge’s surrender of his medical license will be reported to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s National Practitioner Data Bank, a registry used to collect and share disciplinary information about medical providers across state lines.
“Generally speaking, you would have difficulty getting a license in any other state,” Easterling said.
However, physicians whose licenses have been surrendered in Mississippi can reapply for licensure, beginning the process as if they have never held one before, according to Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure policy.
Vicky Pitts shows scarring under her chin from a 2020 neck lift and a series of revisions performed by Dr. Adair Blackledge, at her home in Laurel, Miss., Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayBlackledge’s former patients have greeted news of his departure from the field with mixed reactions. Vicky Pitts of Laurel underwent a necklift with Blackledge in 2020, followed by a series of revisions and touch-up surgeries that occurred for more than two years after she said the initial surgery failed. Pitts said the subsequent procedures resulted in complications.
She said Friday she feels relieved that other patients may be spared similar experiences, but does not believe the outcome will bring her closure.
“It still does not heal some of the people he has really hurt in the long run, with the stress, the depression, the embarrassment,” she said. “… When I look in the mirror, I just want to cry.”
Scores of people who say they were patients of Blackledge have shared stories and photographs of their surgery experiences in a members-only Facebook group created by patients in 2023.
Blackledge told Mississippi Today in emails from July to September that the complaints made by patients about his practice represented a small portion of his patient population and said he believes his complication rate is far below the national average. He said the complaints were the result of a “social media barrage” in which he, his family and his staff members were attacked and threatened by patients.
“The past year has been an extremely frustrating one for me, and I really feel like I am being painted in a false light by patients who had apparently unreasonable expectations of the results that could be achieved,” he said to Mississippi Today in July.
Blackledge told Mississippi Today for months last year that he could not locate a transfer agreement he said he had with St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson. The agreement is a state requirement for surgeons who sedate patients in their offices, and is widely considered a critical patient safety measure for office-based surgery.
Blackledge provided a written transfer agreement with St. Dominic to Mississippi Today the day before it published its article, signed that day, after Mississippi Today inquired about it for the third time in three months.
There was no indication Monday on the Blackledge Face Center website or social media pages that the business has closed. Appointments for aestheticians are listed as available beginning Jan. 19. Plastic surgery services are not listed.
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