South Florida has become the epicenter of Brazilian butt lift (BBL) surgery, with women flying in from all over the nation to undertake the prevalent procedure.
However, as NBC 6 Investigators have been disclosing for years, at least 19 women in the area have died as a result of cosmetic surgery in the last 5 years.
The reporting has prompted several studies that altered the way these cosmetic procedures are conducted.
“In 2019, because of all the deaths, the Florida Board of Medicine put a rule stating that doctors could no longer inject fat into the muscle,” said Dr. Pat Pazmiño, a board certified plastic surgeon based in Miami.
Despite the changes, as well as a new state law that allows the Florida Board of Medicine to properly regulate and discipline doctors when a patient dies or is horribly injured, the death rate from BBLs has accelerated.
“In 2021, eight women in South Florida died from a fat embolism after a Brazilian butt lift,” Pazmiño said. “This is because this procedure is still very popular and there was a lot of pent-up demand after the pandemic.”
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In response to the concerning trend, the Florida Board of Medicine approved an emergency order restricting BBL surgeries to 3 per day, per surgeon, in order to prevent fatigue.
Fatigue is thought to have played a role in the death of a 33-year-old woman who died last summer after undertaking a BBL procedure performed by Dr. John Sampson.
