41-year-old American plastic surgeon arrested after wife dies during surgery

A 41-year-old plastic surgeon in the United States has been arrested following the death of his wife who suffered a cardiac arrest on the operating table in November last year. The doctor, identified as Benjamin Brown, was taken into custody Monday and charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter by culpable negligence in the death of his wife Hillary Ellington Brown. According to The independenthe turned himself in to police after a warrant for his arrest was issued on Friday.

In a news release, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office said officers went to the 41-year-old's office, Restore Plastic Surgery, in Florida, for a medical emergency on Nov. 21. Upon arriving on scene, first responders located a female victim. – later identified as Hillary Brown – suffering from cardiac arrest. She was taken to hospital, where she was placed on life support before being pronounced dead. An autopsy into his death is underway.

“The autopsy protocol typically takes several months as it is generally dependent on extensive laboratory and toxicology testing as well as information gathered by our major crimes detectives regarding the circumstances of the death,” police said in a statement.

Benjamin Brown is being held in the county jail awaiting his bond hearing, the release added.

According to The independent, on the day Ms. Hillary suffered a cardiac arrest, she was scheduled to undergo miniature muscle plication/abdominal scar revision, bilateral arm liposuction, lip injections, and ear adjustment procedures. She would have prepared her own anesthesia before the operations. She also ingested a handful of multi-colored pills, including Valium.

Shortly before the procedures, she began to experience symptoms related to the sedation. When she entered the operating room, her husband gave her additional anesthesia without being able to check what his wife had taken. Subsequently, he failed to record his wife's medications and dosage. At one point, his wife told him that his vision was becoming blurry and that she was seeing “orange.” Additionally, she experienced restlessness, muscle twitching, and blurred vision, which are common symptoms of toxicity. The 41-year-old, however, continued to inject drugs into her face, after which she became unconscious and began having convulsions.

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At that point, a medical assistant asked the doctor if he should call emergency services and he responded “no.” In the next 20 minutes, the assistant asked again and he said “no” or “wait,” the outlet reported.

The plastic surgeon began to panic and asked his assistants to bring him equipment, including an oxygen tank and a stethoscope. However, because the medical assistant was new, they had difficulty finding the items. Meanwhile, instead of calling an ambulance, Brown allegedly “screamed” at staff, asking “What medications did she take?”

About 10 to 20 minutes after Hillary Brown suffered a seizure, Brown asked an aide to call 911, but his wife never regained consciousness.

The medical board determined that Brown's treatment of his wife was “reckless and haphazard.” Additionally, in May, the Florida Department of Health issued an emergency order limiting a physician's medical authorization to perform procedures or surgeries only in a licensed hospital under the supervision of a licensed physician. The ministry is taking disciplinary action in this matter. Ben Brown, on the other hand, has chosen to contest the allegations against him and the matter will be heard by the Division of Administrative Hearings.