A 33-year-old woman who allegedly went by “Dr. Lori” is facing multiple felony charges after Miami police say she ran an unlicensed cosmetic clinic in Liberty City that left at least two women disfigured, requiring repeated surgeries to drain abscesses and repair scarring. Latonya Shanice Starks operated Lori Dior Miami Med Spa at 5789 NW Seventh Ave., where investigators say she injected clients with needles despite holding no medical license of any kind.
According to WPLG Local 10, police say Starks used an insulin-type needle to inject a substance into a woman's buttocks and abdomen, and that Lori Dior was not licensed by any state authority. Starks allegedly injected clients with Lemon Bottle, a foreign fat-dissolving substance that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and separately represented Sculptra, marketed as a dermal filler, as a fat-dissolving injection. A Miami police detective told the outlet that Lemon Bottle is not approved by the FDA.
One victim required repeated hospitalization over roughly three months after her procedure, per the arrest report cited by the station, and told police she paid Starks $1,200 for the injections. Another woman paid $650 to have her sister injected, the report states. Two women needed multiple procedures to drain abscesses and repair scarring, and both continue to experience pain at the injection sites, while the injected substance also caused lumps and irritation. One victim believed medications used to treat her injection complications caused a miscarriage.
Complaints Piled Up Before Arrest
Miami police received complaints about Starks in May and June, according to the same account, before officers arrested her following a traffic stop near her home in Aventura. She now faces three charges of practicing healthcare without a license causing serious injury, along with two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. She was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a total bond exceeding $30,000.
A search of Starks's vehicle turned up needles, a sharps container, bandages and packaging labeled Sculptra 150, the report notes, while a search of her apartment at Portsview at the Waterways on Yacht Club Drive turned up additional medical and cosmetic equipment. Records cited by the station show Starks was previously convicted of first-degree forgery and shoplifting in suburban Atlanta in 2010, and she was reportedly on probation in that case at the time of her Miami arrest. Georgia authorities had also issued a cease-and-desist order against her for similar operations there, the report states.
Marketing Promised Riches Off Body Contouring
Starks promoted her business through the Instagram account @loridior_beautyspa, where she boasted, “Imagine being a Millionaire off BOOTY” and told followers to “get rich in this spa s--- or quit,” according to the station's report. The account also advertised a “PowerBooty” buttock enhancement machine and offered trainings. In a statement to Local 10, Starks claimed she stopped performing liquid Brazilian butt lifts two years earlier, said Lori Dior only offers trainings and does not provide services, and insisted a registered nurse named Kate had performed the injections. She also said she had posted publicly that she was no longer doing injections and told people to stop requesting them.
What the Law Says About Unlicensed Injections
Florida Statute 456.065(2)(d)2 is the provision cited here. Police say Starks's alleged victims suffered disfigurement. Florida's rules included 2023 ultrasound requirements and 2024 registration changes, per MedPage Today. Lawmakers passed House Bill 1471 in 2023, which established safety standards for gluteal fat grafting and included registration requirements, per MedPage Today.
The FDA has warned that unapproved fat-dissolving injections have been linked to permanent scars, painful tissue knots, cysts and serious infections — the same kinds of harm described in the Miami case. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, using fat-dissolving injections that are not FDA approved can be harmful, prompting a consumer warning on Dec. 20, 2023.
In a separate case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Maribel Jimenez, a Miami-Dade resident, was sentenced to more than 6 years on Aug 30, 2017, for operating a Miami spa. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Miami-Dade resident Maribel Jimenez was sentenced to more than 6 years in prison on Aug 30, 2017, for operating a Miami spa performing illicit silicone injections.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said a fifty-six month prison sentence was imposed upon Magaly Del Rosario for managing a Miami spa which performed illicit silicone injections on Sept 20, 2017.
A Hub for Risky Body-Contouring Procedures
South Florida has become a national hotspot for severe complications from cosmetic body procedures, with 25 deaths from pulmonary fat embolisms during gluteal surgeries recorded in the region between 2010 and 2022, according to MedPage Today. Noninvasive fat reduction procedures declined 40 percent in 2024. Demand, inexpensive clinics and uncredentialed staff have been discussed in related BBL contexts.
