A plastic surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Brown, faces charges over the death of his wife, Hillary Brown, following a series of cosmetic procedures he performed on her. According to ABC Action News, Dr. Brown, licensed to practice in Florida and several other states, has been arrested and charged with second-degree felony homicide and manslaughter by culpable negligence.
On November 21, 2023, Hillary reportedly prepared and administered her own IV solution despite lacking medical training, as the Florida Department of Health cited in the case against the doctor. Further compounding the tragedy, as ABC News reports, she consumed an undisclosed amount of pills, including a sedative and painkiller, the consumption of which was undocumented. During the procedures at the Pensacola-area clinic, her condition rapidly deteriorated until she suffered a seizure and became unresponsive.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office reported that despite evident signs of medical distress, Dr. Brown injected more anesthetic and continued the procedures. It was not until roughly 20 minutes after Hillary became unresponsive that the physician began CPR and a medical assistant called 911, as detailed by Fox News. The patient went into cardiac arrest and died a week later on November 28.
In addition to Hillary's case, the administrative complaint against Dr. Brown includes other alarming allegations of malpractice, including performing unwanted gluteal fat injections on patients. Barry Beroset, defense attorney for Dr. Brown, said, "Dr. Brown intends to plead not guilty and vigorously fight the allegations against him in court," as he informed in a phone call with ABC News. Hillary, in her passing, was honored by loved ones for her giving spirit and remembrance as an organ donor, a gesture that sustained the lives of five recipients, per her obituary shared by Fox News.
The Florida surgeon's medical license has since been suspended while awaiting legal proceedings, and the Santa Rosa County Jail records show that he was released on a $50,000 bond after his arrest. The heart-wrenching event has left many scrutinizing the ethical boundaries and oversight within the cosmetic surgery industry, particularly when personal relationships intersect with professional medical practice.
