Why are so many unlicensed doctors being arrested in Florida?

After four people have been arrested In a case of botched cosmetic surgeries in Port St. Lucie, WPTV began looking into the issue of unauthorized medical incidents.

WPTV investigative reporter Dave Bohman found that South Florida and the Treasure Coast have seen their share of clinics destroyed and the people who operated them arrested over the past decade.

Last month, Miami police arrested Angelina Andreoli, 29, after they said she posed as a doctor and administered Botox and lip filler injections. Investigators said she did not have a license and was not a doctor.

In West Palm Beach in 2014, Dr. William Marrocco was accused of allowing unlicensed assistants to perform breast augmentations and facelifts, leaving patients in pain and disfigured. Marrocco and his assistants were later convicted and the clinic was closed in 2017.

Then, in 2019, St. Lucie County sheriff's deputies arrested Jose Espinoza-Aleman, who was later convicted of working as a dentist without a license.

Deputies said he carried his dental equipment in a toolbox, adding that some patients complained his work led to serious infections.

Then there is the case of Malachi Love-Robinson which made national headlines. Love-Robinson was convicted in 2018 of posing as a doctor and treating patients in West Palm Beach when he was just 17 years old.

WPTV wanted to know why South Florida and the Treasure Coast were plagued by so many fake doctors, especially when it comes to cosmetic surgery. Bohman interviewed Dr. Jonathan Berman, a longtime cosmetic surgeon, who said fraud was particularly bad in his field.

“It’s a very easy way to make money quickly,” Berman said. “And one of the great things about Botox is that it's short-term. It only lasts three months, so you can take your money and run, if you really want to be less scrupulous.”

Police investigators said those who practice medicine without a license charge less than licensed doctors, making them more affordable and, because they don't have degrees, more dangerous.

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