Surgeon in Florida charged with death of his wife after botched operation at his clinic

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — Florida plastic surgeon Dr. Ben Brown has been charged in the death of his wife last November.

Brown, 41, turned himself in Monday morning and was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail at 7:55 a.m. He is charged with first-degree murder: manslaughter by involuntary manslaughter.

He made his first court appearance Monday afternoon, where a judge set him on $50,000 bail. Brown was released from the Santa Rosa County Jail at 4:25 p.m. after posting bail.

Hillary Brown, 33, died a week after undergoing surgery last November at her husband’s Restore Plastic Surgery office on Nantahala Beach Road. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office immediately launched an investigation into her death.

According to a new police report from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, on May 15, the medical examiner listed Hillary’s official cause of death as “complications from lidocaine poisoning.”

WEAR News reported in early May that the Florida Department of Health had ordered an immediate suspension of Dr. Ben Brown’s medical license.

A 30-page report from the FDOH detailed allegations of medical malpractice and patient disregard over a period of about two years.

Dr. Brown’s clinic operations were suspended shortly after November 21, 2023, when Hillary was scheduled to undergo several procedures, including liposuction, lip injections, and ear surgery.

The FDOH report states that Hilary prepared her IV bags with lidocaine.

Shortly thereafter, the report says, Hillary took a “handful” of colorful pills, including Valium. The report says that while Dr. Brown documented his wife taking Valium, Tramadol, Zofran and other substances, the “handful of pills” are not documented.

According to the report, the facility was closed to the public during Hillary’s procedure that afternoon. She reportedly assisted in her own procedure by stitching the skin back together.

Afterward, Hillary reportedly became agitated and began twitching. Dr. Brown then performed liposuction and the twitching became worse. According to the report, Hillary’s vision began to blur and she was “orange.”

The report states that Dr. Brown continued to inject lidocaine and xylocaine into Hillary’s face. Shortly thereafter, she became unresponsive and suffered a seizure, the report states.

The FDOH investigation found that a physician assistant asked Dr. Brown multiple times if they should call 911, to which he responded “no” or “wait.” The 911 call was eventually made and Hillary was taken to the hospital, the report said.

The report says she never regained consciousness and died a week later.

According to the sheriff’s new arrest report, the medical examiner found that Hillary “did not suffer a self-administered substance overdose.” Here’s how investigators came to their investigation in the arrest report:

In summary, all witness interviews confirmed that when the victim showed signs of an overdose, Brown continued to inject unknown amounts of lidocaine and did not stop until the victim suffered a seizure and cardiac arrest. When this occurred, Brown delayed reporting the incident to 911 and used his status as a physician to do so, despite being required by law. Brown demonstrated a history of allowing unsafe practices and failed to take precautions for the benefit of human life, even after an incident in which he was unable to awaken the victim during a procedure in January 2023.

In the FDOH report, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo concluded that Dr. Brown “exercised poor judgment and was not trustworthy” and that his treatment of his wife was “careless and haphazard.”

WEAR News spoke to Hillary’s father following Dr. Brown’s license suspension.

Marty Ellington says he was shocked to hear so little from the surgeon and his son-in-law who last operated on Hillary.

“I gave him every opportunity for seven days,” he said. “I’m sitting in a hospital room watching my daughter die. We sat in the same room, we talked a lot and had an opportunity to say, ‘I messed up.’ I never got that.”