From the Miami Herald comes a terrifying story about a plastic surgery group tied to multiple patient deaths.  The surgical group which operated out of three different south Florida clinics are responsible for at least three deaths, including the recent death of a young woman from West Virginia, Heather Meadows, 29,  who had traveled to south Florida looking for cheap plastic surgery.

In addition to this case, come reports that the group housed post-operative patients in a local horse stable.  The clinics; Encore Plastic Surgery in Hialeah, and two Miami clinics; Vanity Plastic Surgery and Spectrum Aesthetics have also been linked with multiple serious medical complications including the case of Nyosha Fowler who was comatose for 28 days after surgeons at the clinic accidentally perforated her intestine and then injected the fecally contaminated fluid into her sciatic nerve during a liposuction/ fat transfer procedure.  Ms. Fowler, who is lucky to be alive, is now permanently disabled and facing a two-million dollar medical bill for the life-saving care she received at an outside facility.

Now, Heather Meadow’s death has been ruled accidental, which is no comfort to her family or the numerous patients harmed by these surgeons. While the state of Florida has reprimanded two of the surgeons in the surgical group in the past, this hasn’t affected their practice, and the surgical clinics continue to accept new patients from across the United States and operate on unsuspecting clients.

While Florida state health officials issued an emergency restriction prohibiting one of the group’s surgeons, Dr. Osak Omulepu from operating, no charges have been made despite cell phone photographs documenting horrific conditions at the horse stables where patients were forced to stay while they recuperated from various procedures.  In fact, Dr. Osak Omulepu continues to have four star ratings on several online sites.  His license is listed as active on the Florida Medical Board, with no complaints listed under his profile page.  However, under the disciplinary actions page, there are eight separate listings that do not appear on his general profile.

One of these Complaints, (posted here) related to the death of a 31-year-old woman due to repeated liver perforation during liposuction.  The complaint also cites several other cases against the doctor and notes that Dr. Osak Omulepu is not a board certified plastic surgeon.  In fact, according to the complaints filed in March, the good doctor, holds no certification in any recognized medical specialty.

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Plastic surgery safety & Buttloads of Pain

Patient satisfaction scores vs. clinical outcomes: The Yelp! approach to surgery

Is your ‘cosmetic surgeon’ really even a surgeon?

Patient Safety & Medical Tourism

Liposuction in a Myrtle Beach apartment