A Miami surgeon can’t do Brazilian butt lifts after a patient’s death, the state says
A board certified plastic surgeon has been prohibited by the state of Florida from doing Brazilian butt lifts after the death of a patient at New Life Plastic Surgery.
The state’s emergency restriction order against Dr. Oliver Simmons was filed Friday, three months after a 47-year-old woman from Indiana died on the way to a North Miami Beach recovery house from New Life, 8400 SW Eighth St. in West Miami-Dade.
The emergency order says the woman’s death by pulmonary embolism was the result of Simmons injecting fat into her gluteal muscles, an action prohibited in Florida since 2019 after several Brazilian butt-lift deaths.
“Dr. Simmons’ decision to perform a surgery with known risks of increased mortality using an inherently dangerous and illegal fat grafting technique indicates that Dr. Simmons is not capable of performing surgeries in a manner that is correct and safe,” the ERO states.
Simmons’ license was restricted immediately from performing gluteal fat-grafting procedures.
Online Florida Department of Health license profiles say this is the first disciplinary action against the license Simmons has held since Oct. 22, 2018, and no action has posted against New Life.
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Online South Carolina records say Simmons was licensed there from Jan. 26, 2011, until he let it lapse on June 30, 2021, and his license was “in good standing at the time of expiration of his license.”
An email from the Miami Herald to Simmons’ Department of Health address hasn’t been answered. New Life directed inquiries to attorney Victor De Yurre, who has answered neither an email to his Florida Bar address nor a phone message.
Brazilian butt-lift death in Miami
A “Brazilian butt lift” or BBL is a gluteal fat transfer or gluteal fat grafting, a form of liposuction. Using a tube called a “cannula,” the surgeon sucks fat from the abdomen and back and inserts that fat into the buttocks. No fat should be inserted into or under the muscles in the buttocks. The ERO says the cannula should be at least 4 millimeters and should not be pointed downwards.
According to the ERO:
“T.W.,” a 47-year-old woman from Indiana came to Florida on April 18 for a consultation with a doctor at another facility. She wanted a breast reduction and arm liposuction. That doctor “determined Patient T.W. was not a good candidate for elective office surgery and declined to perform the surgery because Patient T.W. had a body mass index of 38.1 and a history of hypertension.”
A body mass index of 38.1, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute chart, says a five-foot-four person weighs just over 221 pounds.
The next day, Simmons agreed to perform a BBL on T.W. She came back to New Life on April 20 for the surgery.
“In the course of the gluteal fat transfer procedure portion of the BBL, Dr. Simmons inserted the cannula into and through Patient T.W.’s gluteal fascia one or more times, depositing fat into her gluteal muscles,” the ERO said.
T.W. was brought out of anesthesia and released to “C.B.,” who owned the North Miami Beach recovery home. C.B. and T.W. left New Life around 2:10 p.m.
“When Patient T.W. got into the transport vehicle, she told C.B. that she was feeling dizzy. Patient T.W. got into the back of the van and tried lying down and then sitting on her knees. Patient T.W. started to feel dizzy again. C.B. pulled over on the highway and found Patient T.W. unconscious in the van.”
A trip to Palmetto General Hospital’s emergency room couldn’t save T.W. She died on April 20.
After the medical examiner found “multiple fatty particles within and beneath” T.W.’s glute muscles and within her lungs, the cause of death was determined to be a pulmonary embolism.
