Plastic Surgeon Arrested In Spouse’s Demise After She Died Following Process on His Desk

On Monday, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Workplace introduced the arrest of 41-year-old Dr. Benjamin Jacob Brown following the loss of life of his spouse, Hillary Ellington Brown, in November 2023.

He was charged with Second Diploma Felony Murder: manslaughter by Culpable Negligence. Per the Sheriff’s Workplace, their deputies responded to Brown’s Restore Plastic Surgical procedure places of work to deal with a feminine sufferer, Hillary, who had suffered cardiac arrest. She was placed on life assist, earlier than she died 7 days later.

The arrest comes after the State of Florida’s Division of Well being issued an order of emergency restriction of Dr. Brown’s license final month, which gave further perception into what allegedly went down the day of Hillary’s operation.

The paperwork (through Legislation&Crime) declare Brown’s spouse was set to bear a miniature muscle plication/stomach scar revision, bilateral arm liposuction, lip injections, and ear adjustment procedures. Per the State’s investigation, the morning of the process, Hillary “ready her personal tumescent resolution which incorporates diluted lidocaine, epinephrine, and sodium bicarbonate” and ingested a “handful” of drugs, which allegedly included Valium, Tramadol and Versed. She then started to “exhibit results of sedation.”

There isn’t any documentation that the answer was ready accurately, mentioned the State, although Dr. Brown allegedly administered it. The docs additionally state Hillary “assisted in her personal process by suturing the pores and skin again collectively” after the muscle plication and scar revision — however then “turned stressed and her toes started twitching.”

As her husband carried out lipo on her arms, “her twitching worsened,” reads the docs.

At that time, Dr. Brown documented he injected a “extra concentrated” resolution of lidocaine into his spouse’s face and lips … whereas witnesses allegedly declare he injected undiluted Xylocaine into her face. It is then, per the docs, Hillary mentioned her imaginative and prescient began to blur and she or he was seeing “orange.”

The Division of Well being famous muscle twitches, restlessness and blurred imaginative and prescient are all early indicators of lidocaine toxicity — although Dr. Brown allegedly saved injecting lidocaine/Xylocaine into her face. She then turned unresponsive and had a seizure.

“A medical assistant requested Dr. Brown if they need to name 911 and Dr. Brown mentioned ‘no.’ Over the subsequent 10-20 minutes, a medical assistant requested Dr. Brown if they need to name 911 and Dr. Brown mentioned ‘no,’ or ‘wait,’” reads the docs. “The medical assistant was scared and a brand new worker, so she did as Dr. Brown instructed.”

In line with the submitting, the affected person ought to have been instantly transferred to a better degree of care, which they are saying Dr. Brown didn’t do whereas her “vitals declined.”

The paperwork additionally declare Dr. Brown started shouting at employees, asking, “What remedy did she take, what did she take?” Then, “after roughly 10-20 minutes” — as Hillary’s “breaths have been shallow, and her pulse and blood oxygen ranges have been low” — her husband requested her assistants to name 911 and started performing CPR.

She was intubated and brought to a hospital close by, “in cardiac arrest with an elevated lactic acid degree and suspected lidocaine toxicity,” mentioned the State. She by no means regained consciousness earlier than her loss of life on November 28.

Per the submitting, Dr. Brown’s “consideration to his follow declined” in or round 2021, “leading to an unsafe surroundings for procedures to be carried out.”

“The extent of disregard Dr. Brown paid to affected person security, even when the affected person was his spouse, signifies that Dr. Brown is unwilling or incapable of offering the suitable degree of care to his future sufferers,” mentioned the Division of Well being.

“Dr. Brown’s most problematic violation throughout H.R.’s process was his failure to react swiftly in response to a severe medical emergency,” they continued. “Regardless of much less skilled employees members requesting to name 911, Dr. Brown delayed the transport of H.R. by telling his employees ‘no’ or to attend. This was compounded by his employees’s obvious lack of information and coaching.”

The State believed that his “continued unrestricted follow as a medical physician presents an instantaneous, severe hazard to the well being, welfare, and security of the general public.”

In a press release to the Pensacola Information Journal, Hillary’s father Marty Ellington mentioned his household “lives in a sea of tears for eternity as a result of actions of 1 careless particular person.”

“His ego and vanity overshadowed the necessity for assist, prolonging oxygen deprivation to her mind and in the end inflicting her loss of life. Ben Brown took the mom from my grandchildren, my solely daughter and our brightest star,” he continued. “Hillary gave the last word sacrifice so Ben Brown can’t harm anybody else. Perhaps in jail, he’ll get the eye he deserves.”