A Doral strip-mall cosmetic clinic is now operating under state probation after a 2023 Brazilian butt-lift that ended with a patient dead the next day. The patient, identified in state paperwork only by initials, died one day after the surgery. An autopsy found fat globules in the gluteal muscles and in vessels in the lungs, and the case has renewed scrutiny on who is working inside the clinic and how safely high-risk body-contouring procedures are being done in South Florida.
The Florida Department of Health's license system now lists the office-surgery registration for Venus Cosmetic Institute in Doral as "Probation." The agency's enforcement file links that status to an administrative settlement. As reported by the Miami Herald, the clinic agreed to a two-year probation that requires inspections twice a year, a $5,000 fine, and about $2,188 in reimbursement costs. Florida Department of Health records list the business at 7902 NW 36th Street, Suites 201–202, in Doral.
Who practices at the clinic
The clinic markets itself under the Daso/Venus banner and, on its own website and advertising, promotes surgeons Drs. Fernando Lora, Clive Persaud and Stephanie Stover as its team. The practice site describes Persaud as "Double Board-Certified" and lists Lora and Stover as board-certified surgeons. Those credentials and names appear on the clinic's promotional pages, even as state and court records show that at least one of the surgeons, Dr. Stephanie Stover, previously faced discipline after a different BBL case. In that matter, a 2021 recommended order from the Division of Administrative Hearings imposed a year of probation, a $5,000 fine and costs. The listings and the prior proceeding appear in Daso Plastic Surgery materials and the Division of Administrative Hearings record.
The 2023 BBL and the complaint
According to state documents obtained by reporters, the June 7, 2023 BBL at the Doral office was performed by Dr. Fermin Morales. The Department of Health's administrative complaint alleges that fat was injected into the patient's gluteal muscles and that an autopsy showed copious fat globules in those muscles as well as fat in pulmonary vessels. Dr. Morales currently has a public administrative complaint on his Florida license and is not listed in the clinic's current state facility roster, according to Florida Department of Health records, which show a public complaint flag on his file.
Regulatory context and safety rules
Florida has tightened rules on gluteal fat-grafting after a series of BBL-related deaths, adopting emergency and permanent standards that prohibit intramuscular or submuscular fat injections and place limits on how and where the procedures can be done. The goal is to reduce the mortality rate tied to these surgeries in South Florida and to give the Board of Medicine clearer authority to pursue enforcement and penalties. A recent analysis from the Florida Senate and administrative hearing records describe the rule changes and their legal underpinnings.
For the Doral clinic, the probation order translates into regular state inspections and closer oversight for two years. It does not, however, prevent regulators from taking further action if new violations are found. The case underscores the ongoing tension between a booming cosmetic-surgery market and the state's push for a stricter standard of care for high-risk procedures like the BBL. Patients are urged to check a surgeon's track record and the Department of Health license status before signing up for major body-contouring surgery.
