A Doral man is facing serious charges after performing a cosmetic surgery without a license, resulting in significant harm to a female patient, authorities have reported. Manuel Jose Lazzaro, 58, has been arrested and now faces a second-degree felony charge for his actions as an unlicensed healthcare professional that led to the disfiguring of a woman following a breast procedure. The victim, who traveled from Orlando to Miami for the surgery, thought Lazzaro was a certified plastic surgeon after being introduced to him through a co-defendant on social media, according to information from WSVN.
The clinic, New World Medical Mystic & Cosmetic Center, located on Southwest 1st Street, where the procedure was done in September 2024, is now empty and boarded up. The victim, who faced serious complications post-surgery, sought repeated treatments from Lazzaro but ended up permanently disfigured. Florida Department of Health confirmed that Lazzaro has no medical license in Florida, with an arrest report describing him merely as a "surgical assistant." In her pursuit of beauty, the woman found rather a crude awakening at the hands of an impostor dressed in white.
During Lazzaro's bond court appearance, a prosecutor highlighted the gravity of the situation. "It states that her breasts were infected, and the defendant ignored her complaints and didn’t tell her to go to a legitimate doctor," the prosecutor told the court, as reported by NBC Miami. The judge has since set Lazzaro's bond at $10,000 and has ordered him not to perform any surgeries. Lazzaro's attorney has cited his client's family and substantial community ties, declaring him a person that has been "a good model of character until these arrests."
The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office is wielding a cautionary tale from this incident, urging potential patients to thoroughly check the credentials of their healthcare providers. "If you are thinking or have done a procedure, to please do your homework, a lot of these doctors making these plastic surgeries, they have no licenses, the majority of them don't even take insurances so that should be an automatic red flag," spokesman Joseph Peguero stated in an interview obtained by NBC Miami. "You are playing with your life and it could cost you." These words spoken not merely as a warning, but as a dirge for the victimization suffered at hands unqualified to heal.
The victim identified Lazzaro in a photo lineup, leading to his arrest at his Doral home. In the aftermath, as detectives continue their investigation, the clinic's representative has yet to publicly comment, with NBC Miami being told their attorney would get back to them. Meanwhile, the distressing trend of unauthorized medical practices comes to light once more, as just last month, another arrest was made at the same clinic on similar charges concerning Wilson Munoz Suarez. The narrative of promise and transformation in these medical rooms has turned, far too often, to a tale of betrayal and harm.
