Plastic surgeon charged in wife’s death after performing ‘out-of-hours surgery’

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A plastic surgeon in the Florida Panhandle has been charged in the death of his wife after she performed procedures on her at his clinic outside of business hours last year and died a few days later, authorities said.

Benjamin Brown was arrested Monday on charges of manslaughter by involuntary manslaughter, a second-degree felony. He was released from the Santa Rosa County Jail after posting $50,000 bail.

His defense attorney said Tuesday that Benjamin Brown plans to plead not guilty. An arraignment is scheduled for next month.

“Dr. Brown intends to plead not guilty and vigorously contest the charges against him in court,” defense attorney Barry Beroset said in a phone call.

Brown’s wife, Hillary Brown, suffered a cardiac arrest in November while her husband was performing procedures on her at his Pensacola-area clinic, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said. She was taken to a hospital and died a week later, the sheriff’s office said.

Last month, the Florida Department of Health filed an administrative complaint with the state medical board seeking penalties against Brown, up to and including revocation or suspension of his license, in connection with his wife’s case and others.

Without supervision from her husband or other medical professionals, Hillary Brown prepared her own local anesthetic and filled IV bags for the procedures, which included liposuction on her arms, lip injections and an ear job, the Department of Health complaint says.

She also took several tablets, including a tranquilizer, a painkiller and an antibiotic, before she fell into a sedated state. However, the ingestion of these tablets was not documented, the complaint states.

“The prevailing minimum professional standard requires that physicians not permit a patient to prepare medications for use in their own practice,” the complaint states.

During the treatment, Hillary Brown’s feet began to twitch and she told her husband that her vision was blurring and she was looking “orange.” Benjamin Brown injected her in the face with more lidocaine, an anesthetic. The Department of Health said she became unresponsive and suffered a seizure.

A medical assistant asked Benjamin Brown if they should call 911 and he said “no,” according to the complaint. Over the next 10 to 20 minutes, the medical assistant repeated her question about whether they should call an ambulance and he said “no” or “wait,” according to the complaint.

After about 10 to 20 minutes, when Hillary Brown’s breathing became shallower and her pulse and oxygen levels in her blood became low, Benjamin Brown told his assistants to call 911 and began CPR, the complaint said.

However, a physician’s assistant told a sheriff’s office investigator that she made the decision to call 911, not Benjamin Brown. According to a sheriff’s office report, emergency room doctors at the hospital where Hillary Brown was taken later told the investigator that they treated her for lidocaine poisoning.

Also last month, the Department of Health issued an emergency order limiting Benjamin Brown’s license to perform procedures in hospitals under the supervision of another doctor. His wife had given patients injections and performed laser treatments even though she was not a licensed physician, the order said.

Regarding the procedures performed on his wife last November, the order noted that muscle twitching and blurred vision are early signs of lidocaine toxicity. The order described Benjamin Brown’s treatment of his wife as “careless and haphazard.”

“The extent of Dr. Brown’s disregard for patient safety, even when the patient was his wife, indicates that Dr. Brown is unwilling or unable to provide appropriate care to his future patients,” the order states.