Plastic surgeon investigated after wife died while he was performing ‘several’ procedures

A plastic surgeon is under investigation after his wife died while he was performing “several” procedures on her, allegedly while she was overmedicated.

A Florida plastic surgeon is under investigation after his wife died while he was giving her “several” procedures – allegedly while she was overmedicated with a drug only being used because he had run out of his usual one.

Mum-of-three Hillary Brown, 33, seized and went into cardiac arrest as her husband, Dr Ben Brown, 40, was operating on her on November 21 at his Restore Plastic Surgery clinic in Gulf Breeze, USA Today reported.

She spent a week in a coma before her family decided to take her off life support because she had suffered extensive brain damage due to lack of oxygen, according to the outlet. As reported by the New York Post, her organs were donated.

A 911 call indicated a female patient was in cardiac arrest after possibly being “overmedicated”, the Pensacola News Journal reported, citing the call notes.

“Hillary Brown was in the process of several surgical procedures when she experienced several seizures and then went into cardiac arrest,” the statement added, without elaborating on exactly what surgeries she was getting at the time.

Dr Brown told his wife’s parents, Marty and Dixie Ellington, that he had run out of the medication he usually used, so had put his wife under on a different one, they told USA Today.

“We want answers,” Mr Ellington said, while also questioning why their son-in-law did not have more staff and emergency equipment at hand.

A Florida plastic surgeon is under investigation after his wife went into cardiac arrest as he was operating on her, and later died. Picture: The New York Post/Supplied

“We haven’t been given answers. If it’s a mistake, it was a mistake, but it doesn’t bring my daughter back,” the grieving father added.

“I don’t want his money. I don’t want anything. All I want is an answer because I think that we owe that to my daughter.”

The Santa Rosy County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit is investigating the death, the reports said.

Hillary Brown, 33, died after surgery by her husband, Dr Ben Brown, at his clinic. Picture: The New York Post/Supplied

She had described a sometimes 'volatile' relationship with her husband. Picture: The New York Post/Supplied

The office “frequently [conducts] death investigations when the death was unexpected or the death occurs under unusual circumstances,” spokesperson Jillian Durkin said in a statement to USA Today.

“The cause and manner of death is pending the receipt of the autopsy protocol from the District One medical examiner’s office,” she said.

“The autopsy protocol typically takes several months as it is usually dependent on extensive laboratory and toxicology tests as well as the information gathered by our Major Crimes detectives.”

Hillary and her three children from a previous marriage. Picture: The New York Post/Supplied

Dr Brown wrote about his wife on November 24, when she was in a coma.

“We need prayers for a miracle. Hillary had a cardiac arrest on Tuesday afternoon,” he wrote in a social media post cited by the outlet.

“We called 911 and started CPR. Her heart came back but her brain is not doing well. Hillary Ellington Brown you are my soulmate, my world, my everything. Please come back. Please!”

His wife, who had three young children from a previous marriage and also worked at the clinic, had been married to Dr Brown – who has two sons – for about two years, the Journal reported.

Hillary and her husband had been married for about two years. Picture: The New York Post/Supplied

Their relationship was sometimes “volatile”, Mr Ellington told the outlet, adding that his daughter mostly enjoyed their life together and having her husband perform cosmetic work on her.

“She was gorgeous. We kept telling her, ‘Why are you doing?’” he told the outlet about their conversations.

On April 7, Hillary wrote on Instagram: “I have been guilty of loving someone so much, I started fixing them and failed to notice they were breaking me.”

She did not refer to a specific relationship in the post.

Restore Plastic Surgery has two malpractice lawsuits open against it, though only one lists Dr Brown as a defendant, according to USA Today.

In that case, Wendy and William Carden allege that he used “foreign materials” in a post-mastectomy breast surgery without her consent in 2018, causing infection and sepsis, the outlet reported.

Dr Brown was accused of “negligently failing to periodically monitor the position of the upper extremities”, leading to Ms Carden’s suffering alleged nerve damage and other permanent injury.

The Post has reached out to Restore Plastic Surgery for comment.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission