Is Gross Medical Malpractice Occurring at a Miami Plastic Surgery Clinic?
Miami is a place tourists flock to every year for many reasons. The incredible climate, beautiful beaches, and amazing sights are just a few of these. Women around the country though, come for another reason. They come to get cosmetic surgery. When they do, they often go to a Miami clinic that has turned Miami into a plastic surgery destination. Tragically, the same clinic has had eight patients die after surgeries in the past six years.
An article published by USA Today last month, raises an alarm on this Miami plastic surgery center where eight former patients have passed away in recent years from complications after surgery.
The clinic is run by Dr. Ismael Labrador, who also runs a business next door. According to USA Today, Labrador has had his medical license suspended in the past for allowing workers without a license to perform cosmetic procedures. The Miami surgery center appears to be following similar patterns from his past that involve risky surgeries and poor aftercare. The clinic performs up to eight procedures a day, turning over as many clients as possible in as little time. Even more troubling is the fact that those performing the surgeries have very little training.
This practice is continuously leading to what is legally known as a “never event.” Dozens of these events have occurred in the facility in recent years.
“Never events do not mean that these events do not happen,” says Sean Domnick of Domnick Cunningham & Whalen. “It means that these events are so bad, and caused by such gross negligence, that they should never happen. Each case emerging from this clinic seems to be an example of a ‘never event’.”
That certainly seems to be the case with the Miami clinic. The USA Today investigation reveals that four of the women died as a direct cause of the doctors’ negligence. When injecting body fat in what is known as a Brazilian butt lift, the doctors ventured far too deep in the muscle and tore veins along the way. That did not just happen once. It happened four times.
In addition to the deaths, dozens more women face serious injury after getting cosmetic surgery at the Miami clinic. One was rushed to emergency surgery when it was found her small intestine was punctured, spilling human waste into her body. Another was hospitalized for a lacerated liver, which caused internal bleeding for several days.
As news of deaths and injuries resulting from cosmetic surgery performed at the Miami clinic increased, the business changed names three different times.
At the heart of these tragedies is one common denominator. These women elected cosmetic surgery and have all paid with their life at the same facility. In any medical procedure, there is always a risk of complications and even death. But when there are recurring patterns and recurring deaths, we must ask the question, is negligence or medical malpractice the cause?