HIALEAH, Fla. – Fat clots clogged the arteries of a 29-year-old West Virginia woman who died after cosmetic surgery at a Hialeah clinic.
Darren Caparara, director of operations for the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department, said the fat clots caused Heather Meadows' organs to fail last Thursday after undergoing a Brazilian butt lift at Encore Plastic Surgery.
Recommended Videos
Meadows, a mother of two who was visiting from West Virginia, was taken to the emergency room at Palm Springs General Hospital, where she died.
The medical examiner's report listed complications from lipid transfer as a secondary cause of death, indicating that the fat particles that killed Meadows likely entered her bloodstream through a vein during a fat transfer procedure. During a fat transfer, doctors perform liposuction of the torso and then inject the fat into the buttocks area.
Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Mara Gambineri told Local 10 News last week that Encore Plastic Surgery has "no public complaints or discipline on file." However, records show that the Department of Health issued an emergency restriction on the medical license of a doctor affiliated with the clinic earlier this year.
The order was issued Feb. 17 against Dr. Osakatukei Omulepu in connection with the May 15, 2015, liposuction of a 31-year-old woman who complained of experiencing significant pain after the procedure. It was later discovered that the woman had several perforations of her liver, causing severe sepsis. A Michigan doctor later evaluated the woman and opined that Omulepu "fell below the standard of care" by discharging her to a motel instead of a hospital and using an "inappropriate concentration of tumescent solution" during the procedure.