Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SHOCK: Beautiful mom of 3 dead from "Brazilian Butt Lift"

Episode Date: June 10, 2019

Danea Plascencia, A 28-year-old mother of three young children, is rushed to the hospital -- unresponsive -- after having Brazilian butt lift surgery, a procedure where fat is removed from the body and re-injected into a patient's backside. Will the surgeon face homicide charges?Nancy's Expert Panel Weighs In:Vincent Hill   Private InvestigatorDr. Daniel Bober:  Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Michelle Dupree:   Medical ExaminerKenya Johnson:  Atlanta prosecutorDavid Mack:   Syndicated Radio Host Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joanne, instead of spending Mother's Day weekend celebrating, family members of the mother of three planned her funeral. Dania Plasencia died after having a Brazilian butt lift procedure. We now know who performed the surgery and what caused her death. Most of Dania Plasencia's family didn't know she was having cosmetic surgery. Otherwise, they say they would have tried to talk her out of it.

You're putting your life on the line, so I just don't think it's worth it. The mother of three young Children went to me morning to have a BBL. Th from unwanted places and patients backside after t rushed to the hospital wh medical examiner says Pl called a fat embolism. T

fat gets into the bloods a patient to stop breathing. Pulmonary embolism is a very lethal thing. The NBC6 investigators found at least 12 women died of the same cause after the same procedure in our area. Different doctors and clinics. You are hearing our friend Dan Krauth at NBC6 in Miami, a gorgeous young mother of three, dead from complications from a so-called Brazilian butt lift. And I don't mean in Brazil. I don't mean some bargain basement cosmetic procedure in another country. I'm talking about right here in Miami. A mom of three dies from a Brazilian butt lift in Florida, a procedure where patients are 20

times more likely to die than in any other operation. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. I don't understand it. I don't know if it's a craze developed from, for instance, Kim Kardashian, which really set the bar for people that want to enhance their rear ends. She's beautiful. She's glamorous. She's gorgeous. She's a multimillionaire. People see what she did and try to emulate that.

What went wrong? Why is this young mom of three dead? Joining me, an all-star panel, Dave Mack, syndicated talk show host, Kenya Johnson, felony prosecutor out of Atlanta, Dr. Michelle Dupree, renowned medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist and private investigator, former cop, author of Playbook to a Murder, Vincent Hill. First to you, Dave Max, syndicated talk show host. Let's just start with the beginning. Who is Dania Placencia? She's a 28-year-old mother of three who wanted to

look like Kim Kardashian, I guess. You know, that's your bottom line. Beautiful, loved by her family, a great mother, only 28 years old, and wanted this procedure. I'm just overwhelmed. I'm just trying to even remember what was I doing at age 28. Let's see. I got out of law school. Let's see. Oh, yeah, by that time I was knee deep

in 150 new felonies every week to prosecute. That's what I was doing, dreaming that being a wife and a mother would never happen to me. To Dr. Daniel Boba, forensic psychiatrist, I am not in any way judging plastic surgery at all. If you can afford it and it makes you feel better about yourself and you've got a flaw that bothers you or makes you feel insecure, you know what? Have at it. But I had no idea a Brazilian butt lift was so dangerous. Why would someone risk everything? You know, just last night, Dr. Boebert, you know who I was talking about? I was talking about Joan Rivers, a dear friend of mine. And when I was with her, we did not talk, we didn't crack jokes.

We would talk about raising children. That's what we talked about. And I remember when I first moved to New York to kick off a show with Johnny Cochran. He was the media darling. I was the bad guy because I was arguing with the star in Cochran and Grace. So I guess I was the villain. And Joan Rivers had been thrown off Johnny Carson's show. And she was starting over.

And she had a late, late night radio show. And that's all she had. She had gone from riches to rags. And she invited me across town. It was late. It was like 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night. And we did an hour live radio show together, me and Joan Rivers. And that was the first time I'd ever met her and been around her. And she was just a phenomenal

person. When she wasn't cracking jokes, she was so kind and loving and welcoming and warm. And I was really overwhelmed with her. And that started a friendship that lasted many, many years until she went and had some minor plastic surgery, very minor, and died. So in a roundabout way, back to my question, Dr. Bober, why do people risk everything for plastic surgery? You know, Nancy, you have to realize that if you're going to have a plastic surgery procedure, it's an elective procedure and you're exposing yourself to all the same risks that you would, you know, expose yourself to if it was an appendectomy or you're having your appendix removed. But I think inherently our culture is so looks obsessed that we are afraid that we are flawed in some way. And I think it's propagated by the media that wants us to have a certain image

and wants us to have a certain look. And it's even made worse in the millennial generation by all these, you know, Instagram filters where people have set an unrealistic standard that they can't possibly measure up to. So I literally think that people are willing to accept the risk and risk their lives to achieve a certain look because of the pressure they feel from society. You know what, to risk everything, your life, of course, but having your children raised without their mom?

Take a listen to our friends at ABC7. It's exactly what they say every time. We don't know. We don't know. They know. They have to know. A grieving grandfather fired up in demanding answers, speaking out hours after the death of Dania Placencia-Ferrez. All we know is that she went into surgery, and she's no longer here with us. And she was perfectly fine this morning. Family members tell 7 News the 28-year-old checked into MIA Aesthetics in southwest Miami-Dade for a Brazilian buttlet Friday morning.

Moving some fat from the abdomen to the hips, which she really didn't need. I am opposed to these types of surgeries. Her grandfather, who's also a doctor, says all he knows is Dania had a serious medical emergency after the hour-long procedure. She went blue. She turned blue. She had something really catastrophic going on. The mother of three rushed to Baptist Hospital, but unfortunately she wouldn't survive. And now her grieving family wants to know what happened. To Dr. Michelle Dupree, medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, what does that mean, Dr. Dupree, that she turned blue? Nothing good. I know that much, but I'm just a JD. You're the MD. That's right, Nancy. It doesn't mean anything good. Typically that means

that she is suffering from a lack of oxygen. And we see this commonly when there is something like an embolus. In her case, it was a fat embolus. You know, I'm trying to figure out how this whole thing went wrong. How does a mom of three, a perfectly healthy young woman, die from a cosmetic procedure? It all went down at about 11 o'clock in the morning on Friday, according to Miami-Dade Police. They get a call about a woman in distress at Mia Aesthetics.

Right there, Kenya Johnson, felony prosecutor, that tells me something very important, that she was not in a hospital when she had this procedure done. Mia Aesthetics, that's one of those outpatient clinics. Yes, it sounds like a surgery center. However, they are to follow very strict standards as it relates to how they keep their operating rooms, the people that work in there. And so it's designed to be a substitute for a hospital facility. It's designed to be much cheaper alternative to having the surgery in a hospital, but oftentimes some of the medical care is compromised. Well, I mean, when you have a life-threatening situation, you're not at the hospital. They can't put the paddles on

your chest and do all the stuff you see on TV. I mean, I'm on the outside looking in here because I'm not a medical doctor. Take a listen to our friend Walter Morris, ABC 7. This is what Mia Aesthetics has to say. A rep for MIA Aesthetics saying in a statement, this is the first and only fatality we have endured. Our team is devastated by this tragedy and feels that each and every one of our patients is part of our family. We are constantly evaluating our practices to ensure our patients receive the safest and best

care. Despite these practices, serious surgery comes with the risk of rare, unintended, and tragic results. We are fully dedicated to investigating why today's tragedy occurred. We will be fully transparent with our patients and with the public as more details emerge. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Instead of spending Mother's Day weekend celebrating, family members of the mother of three planned her funeral. Dania Plasencia died after having a Brazilian butt lift procedure. We now know who performed the surgery and what caused her death. Most of Denea Placencia's family

didn't know she was having cosmetic surgery. Otherwise, they say they would have tried to talk her out of it. You're putting your life on the line, so I just don't think it's worth it. The mother of three young children went to Mie Aesthetics on Friday morning to have a BBL. That's where fat is removed

and reinjected into a pat the procedure, she was ru she died. The medical exa died of what's called a f when a piece of fat gets and causes a patient to s embolism is a very lethal investigators found at le of the same cause after the same procedure in our area.

Different doctors and clinics. A Florida mom undergoes a Brazilian butt lift and ends up dead, according to Miami-Dade police. I'm looking at her right now, Dania Plasencia, and you know who she looks like? Dave Mack, I don't know if you've taken a good look at her photo. She looks to me like a mixture of Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian. I mean, she's beautiful. Jackie, look at her picture. Look how pretty she is. Wow. It's just, I don't get it. Dr. Bober, frankly, Dr. Bober, you know how much I respect you.

But I don't know if a man could really ever understand the body image issues that women face. Because men don't face it. You look out front of a men's magazine, there's a guy standing there in waiters in a fishing pole. Who cares? Nobody. But you look at a ladies magazine and there's a woman wearing, you know, a little triangle over each nipple and some anal floss, i.e. a thong. It looks like a Greek goddess for Pete's sake. And then here I am slogging around the house in my cowboy boots trying to make a sloppy Joe casserole. And I'm supposed to look like that

that is not gonna happen and the pressure of feeling like that is the goal it's intense for a lot of people it's just really I think that's why we have all these uh eating disorders in young girls because they think they're supposed to look like that. I don't know if men put pressure on women to look a certain way. I don't know that. I'm lucky with my husband, David, because he always says, hey, I think you look great. I like you better without makeup. You know what? I should marry him all over again just for that. But I understand that a lot of people get pressure from within their family to look a certain way. And when I'm looking at her, she's so pretty. And she's sitting there on the beach. Actually, look at her, Jackie. She's in a bikini. She's got an awesome body. She looks great. She looks perfect. And she's got her two children with her. And now

they're not going to have her. What is this body obsession, Dr. Bober? Well, Nancy, this is exactly why low self-esteem is rampant in this country, especially among women. I think a lot of it does have to do with the media. And although, you know, the media doesn't cause eating disorders, it certainly contributes to it. So, you know, you look at her and you see that she's beautiful, but we don't see her the way she saw herself and the way she saw herself with someone that was flawed and needed to fix something. And this pressure may have come from her family. It may have come from a magazine or an internet site. But again, I think the media is largely responsible for propagating. What is body dysmorphia? Body dysmorphia is actually a very, very rare disorder where people see a certain flaw about themselves in a very disproportionate

or exaggerated way. So other people look at them and they don't see it that way, but they continue to fixate on it to the point where it interrupts their daily life functioning. I don't think it's that rare. I really don't. I think that every time the majority of women go out to dinner or, you know, drive through wherever, they look at the calorie count. I don't see my husband looking at the calorie count. Thank God in heaven. I've never seen a guy check out the calories ever or the fat content. I mean, maybe those people do exist, but not in my world. But I do and every woman I know does it. Or they refer to, oh, I did something bad. I had a dessert like food is bad. And I'm trying to raise Lucy not to think that way, but already, get this Kenya, already there's a group of girls at lunchtime at her school that I call, in a loving, caring way, the lettuce leaf bunch. And they've been doing this since I

know for a fact since they were nine. They get a pile of lettuce for lunch. That's what they eat. At nine years old, that started and they're still eating lettuce two years later. I believe it. Okay, I want to ask Dr. Michelle Dupree this question. What is a fat embolism Jackie wants to know? I'll pretend I know. What is it? A fat embolism is just like a blood clot, only it's made of fat instead of cells. And it often happens after trauma. You can get it from having a broken leg.

And certainly when you are doing something like liposuction or a butt lift, you're going to traumatize the fat. The fat breaks loose and gets into the blood vessel and clogs it up. And therefore, there's no blood and no oxygen. Okay. I don't even know what you just said. Okay. I can't quote Latin phrases from law school all day into the night.

But you're going to have to slow down, Dr. Dupree, and dummy down for me. Guys with me, Dr. Michelle Dupree, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. And what we're talking about is this gorgeous 28-year-old mom of three. I mean, that's the prime of your life. 28 years old, three gorgeous children. She's beautiful. She's healthy. She's living in Miami on the beach.

Hello. She's dead. So Dr. Michelle Dupree, slow it down for dummies like me and explain to me what you just said. Okay. A fat embolism is like a blood clot, only it's made of fat cells, which means fat breaks away from your tissue either by trauma, such as something like a liposuction or a butt lift, or even a fracture of a bone can cause this fat to break away. It escapes into the blood and prevents the blood from going further, therefore not carrying oxygen to the places that are needed. So the person then has an embolus,

which is this fat particle that prevents oxygenation. Wait, I thought it was when a fat particle breaks loose and just goes to your heart or your brain and causes everything to stop. It can go to several places. And yes, it does break loose, but it's inside of a blood vessel when it does such. And it goes to your heart or to the arteries that supply your heart or to your lung. So it's not that the fat particle travels to your heart and makes your heart stop beating or travels to your brain and your brain stops functioning. It's that the fat particle gets stuck in your vein and oxygen doesn't flow. That's an embolism?

Yes, that's exactly right. So that's why she turned blue. Oxygen was not going to her body. That's right. Okay. And I really like the way you slowed down and talked like this to me. You know, I have to do that to my husband all the time. I wonder why he's so resentful.

Guys, we're talking about Tania Placencia, a gorgeous young woman now dead after Brazilian butt lift at an accredited facility. And she's not the only one. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. At Jolie Plastic Surgery on Southwest 8th Street, a patient died Thursday from complications during a cosmetic procedure, a butt augmentation. Kizzy London came from Louisiana, as many patients do, apparently looking for a low-cost fix. We were turned away at the clinic. You guys leave, please, okay? I don't have anything to say. I need you to leave. Fire Rescue says London died after going into respiratory and cardiac arrest during her surgery.

The clinic, like many others, is located in a sprawling strip mall with businesses including this animal clinic. Dr. Arnaldo Valls performed the surgery Thursday. He performs procedures at several storefront clinics in addition to Jolie Plastic Surgery Center. The husband of the woman who died Thursday was picking up her personal effects Friday. Yeah, I don't know what happened. Like right now, I can't talk. I don't know what happened. That's our friend Gary Nelson at CBS4 in Miami talking about yet another woman who travels from Louisiana to Miami for the same procedure. It's called a butt augmentation, a Brazilian butt lift. Listen. She came to South Florida from Louisiana, but Kizzy London, a mother of two, won't ever get the chance to go home. They brought her in. He

said, well, she was dead when she got here. I said, they didn't tell me that. They told me she was all right. London's husband, Richard, lost his wife Thursday after she had a cosmetic procedure at this plastic surgery center in West Miami-Dade. All the time these police was out here, and you didn't call me then when all this was going on. You waited until she got to the hospital. The 40-year-old London was rushed to Kendall Regional after she went into cardiac arrest on the operating table. Dr. Arnaldo Valls, releasing this statement to Seven, it reads

in part, quote, all standard preoperative procedures were administered. The patient developed cardiac arrest towards the end of the operation and immediate resuscitation efforts were taken, followed by a call to 911. The paramedics arrived and the patient was transferred to a nearby hospital. I didn't come up here to cure her back in the box. London's family flew in from Louisiana Friday wanting answers. People still come to have a procedure, but one girl leaving out there with blood all on the back of her dress. It's just ridiculous.

Dr. Valls says he's been practicing for 40 years. His place of work adding, with thousands of surgeries under his surgical expertise, Dr. Valls has kept a clean record of no losses. The incident has impacted him greatly, and he sends prayers to the loved ones of the patient. I got out here yesterday, and I seen numerous anders of women coming in and out of here, man. And I'm just saying they walked in and out of here and my wife didn't walk out of here. Our friends at Channel 7, more than I can take in the way he's describing women going in and out and in and out of a strip mall plastic surgery clinic to Davey Matt, syndicated talk show host joining us. We're talking about Dania Placencia, a 28-year-old mom of three. You just heard about Kizzy London,

a mother of two and more. Tell me about it, Davey Matt. Are all these clinics like in strip malls? Something about going into a strip mall to get a serious surgery where you're put under general anesthesia and you're right next to the Dollar Tree and the pet grooming? Something seems wrong about that, Dave Mack. Nancy, I'm so glad you brought that up because there are comparisons here, but Dania Placencia, she actually was in Mia Aesthetics, which is a real clinic with an actual certified plastic surgeon and everything else. But these others, okay, we're talking strip malls. Was she in a hospital? Was Dania Placencia? Okay, then you want to tell me that because it's a nice building, somehow that makes it more safe?

I don't know. Maybe it does, but you've got a doctor. Go ahead. Yeah. The difference. Well, the difference is this. In the case of Dania Placentia, the guy was actually medically supervised. I mean, plastic surgeon who actually was board certified with a facility that was okayed by the state. Florida is actually changing its laws. So this crap stops happening. But even if all those laws are enacted, that Mia aesthetics would still be open because it meets all the criteria by these new laws. These other issues, the doctor who did Kizzy London, he was a family doc named Dr. Arnaldo Valls. This is a guy who is not board certified in any specialty, carries no medical malpractice insurance, and he's operating in a strip mall.

That's what a lot of these bogus places are. They're doctors who are not qualified, they're not board certified, and they're just running women in and out because they see these pictures on Instagram, and they want to look like the stars, and they're taking advantage of these women, and they're ill-prepared to do the surgeries that they're doing. To Dr. Daniel Bober, a forensic psychiatrist, again, no offense, Dr. Bober, but I don't know how a man can relate to the pressure put on women. But typically, when I'm upset or frustrated, I come out fighting. But at this moment, I kind of feel like crying. Because I think of women who are pressured to look a certain way. And they diet, and they exercise, and they torture themselves, and they try, and it doesn't work. So they can't afford certain doctors. So they go to these so-called

clinics, and they come out, like the husband said, with blood on their clothes, and they die. And it just seems so wrong to me that women feel like they have to look a certain way. And then to attain that goal, they die. They're willing to undergo barbaric procedures, really, to look a certain way, to fit in. I can't really verbalize it. You're the shrink, Bober. It's true, Nancy. And you know, I'm going to tell you, I'm also a child psychiatrist, too. I'm also a board certified child psychiatrist. And I can tell you that some of the research shows that if you're a parent with a child, especially a female child, even one conversation, just one conversation where you tell the child that they're fat or they eat too much can lead to an eating disorder for life. So as someone who's a parent, any parent out there,

it's very important when you talk to your children to make sure you're talking to them about health and wellness and not appearance because it can really damage their self-esteem and it can really carry all the way through their life. Dave Mack, what about criminal charges in the case of Denia Placencia? In the case of denia placentia, there are not going to be any charges filed, I don't think, Nancy. I've been looking over this because the actual surgery that took place, everything was covered based on how their medical clinic is set up. It's just, you mentioned this earlier, why are women willing to risk their lives to have this done? I can't explain it, but in this particular case,

this clinic actually meets the criteria with a certified doctor and everything else. I don't see a charge coming. You know, to Kenya Johnson, Atlanta felony prosecutor, I wouldn't call it so quickly. I'd have to make sure that every T was crossed, every I was dotted before I counted out the possibility of criminal charges. If there were criminal charges, Kenya Johnson, what could it be? A reckless homicide? That would be a voluntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter where you don't intend the crime, but you're not performing a felony, but a death occurs? Well, certainly the reckless conduct in that if all the T's were not crossed and there were gross discrepancies in the standard of care at this facility,

then criminal intent can be derived from gross negligence. And so we are looking at possibly voluntary manslaughter because they acted in a way, purposefully, however, it was gross misconduct, and then involuntary in that they didn't intend for the result to occur. So there could be very likely criminal charges as a result of not properly operating this facility and any negligence that resulted from those operations. So, Vincent Hill, private investigator, former cop, author of Playbook to a Murder. Vincent, this is tricky. How do you go about amassing evidence if you want to do a criminal investigation? Yeah, to your point, Nancy, it is tricky because keep in mind

here, the victims went to this clinic willingly. The intent was, I guess, a good act, if you will, because they were going there to enhance themselves. And, you know, the people performing the surgery, they were trying to fulfill the victim's wishes here. So it is tricky to come up on criminal charges. But I think it goes to a bigger point, Nancy, that you've been touching on. We're in a society now, especially in social media, where you have to look a certain way. I have a friend who's a plus size model who told me the other day she's upset she only has like 5,000 followers, but she sees other people with like 500,000 followers. So it speaks to this bigger issue of we have to get out of that mindset that you have to look a certain way to please a certain demographic or to please the world for that matter.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace heather meadows traveled from her home in west virginia to south florida to get a better body she had just given birth to her second child and her best friend says she wanted to feel good about herself this was solely something that she wanted to do for herself um to make herself feel better we talked to her longtime friend Susanna Wilson through FaceTime. She was the last to talk to Meadows minutes before her surgery. What did she say to you? She was scared. This was her first surgery ever in life. And she asked me to pray for her, and she told me that she loved me.

And those were our last words, whereas I love you. Meadows' autopsy showed she died of what's called a fat embolism after undergoing a Brazilian butt lift procedure. The NBC6 investigators found it's what's killed at least eight mothers in our area in the past five years. Different doctors and clinics. You're hearing our friend Dan Croft at ABC6 in Miami. That number eight we now know is confirmed to be 12 women dead from this procedure,

the Brazilian butt lift. How common is it? With them, fat is taken from parts of your body, say your tummy, and put into your rear end. It's grown wildly popular in the U.S. It's the fastest growing type of plastic surgery. That's according to stats from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The rate of the procedure rose 252% from 2000 to 2015. It went from around 1,000 to nearly 5,000 procedures over the course of that time. Injecting fat into the rear end can lead to problems if it's done improperly, including a fat embolism, when fat enters your bloodstream and blocks a blood vessel. Wow, that's what we know right now. And we're giving you examples of, for instance, Heather

Meadows, Kizzy London, and of course, Dania Plasencia. I don't know if age has anything to do with it, what the risks actually are, but I know this. They make it seem so easy, they even put you on a payment plan. It can be $3,500 to $5,000 for a butt lift. But I can guarantee you one thing, Dave Mack. Kim Kardashian did not have her butt lift done next to the Dollar Tree in the strip mall. You know, Nancy, as we've been looking over the different stories, they're just so sad. There's a doctor in Florida that has two clinics that because of the damage he's doing to women, he's had to change the names of his clinics three times over

the last three years so that when they see an article about a woman dying at the clinic, he just changes the name and keeps recruiting. And they're targeting African-American and Hispanic young women, and they're targeting with those payment plans. So wait, this same guy is changing the name of his clinic to get more people there? Yes, ma'am. There's a doctor named Ishmael Labrador. He's a 56-year-old doctor who at one point in time was actually suspended from practice because he allowed unlicensed workers to perform these cosmetic procedures. He spent years building up this business and targeting young women on social media

and talking specifically about body transformation know, body transformation and doing it on a payment plan. The business is huge in terms of volume. They've got doctors doing eight to 10 surgeries a day in these little strip mall clinics next to the, you know, as you mentioned, next to a Dollar Tree or a Dollar General. And you're going in and having a major procedure done by somebody you don't know if they've even gone to medical school. Take a listen to what the American Society of Plastic Surgeons say. This is Diane Macedo on ABC's GMA. Thanks to celebs like Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian, voluptuous booties are in. But the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has a new and urgent warning about the large number of deaths they say occur during a procedure called

the Brazilian butt lift. According to the society, as many as 1 in 3,000 patients die, making this potentially more dangerous than any other cosmetic surgery. You have an increasing number of doctors who are attempting to perform this procedure. And unfortunately, a lot of these doctors are not board certified. The Brazilian butt lift is meant to make a rear more shapely. It basically combines liposuction with fat grafting, sucking fat from where you don't want it, like the thighs or stomach, and injecting it where you do.

But when performed improperly, there's a risk of a fatal fat embolism. Some surgeons are injecting a little bit too deep. There's some important veins that bring blood from the lower aspect of the legs back into the heart, into the lungs. Take a listen to this. His name is Sergio Alvarez, and she is going to shadow him as he performs a variety of these procedures. So Dr. Alvarez joins us right now. Hello, doctor.

Hey, guys. How are you? We're good. So explain yourself here. How did this happen? Well, I didn't know much about her until about two weeks ago when she reached out to my office asking to spend some time in the operating room. And I'm really big on education, so I didn't really think much about it. And I get a lot of requests from people that are interested in medicine.

Okay. Two things, doctor. Why did she pick you, and how much research did you do on who she is before you said yes if you really didn't know who she was? Well, I think she reached out because of my age, most likely. I'm kind of on the younger side of plastic surgeons, especially here in Miami. Then I found out that she was from the area and I guess maybe she has contacts here. And no, through my publicist, we did some research. And again, I think it's really important for people to see what we do and to see the reality behind it. Because I think what we see

on TV and such is sometimes kind of a very select part of what we do. Wait a minute, everybody. That's my friend Harvey Levin at TMZ, and he is interviewing this guy, Dr. Sergio Alvarez, the doctor in the denia placentia, death. Did I just hear correctly, David Mack? He has an intern in the operating room who is the star of Teen Mom? The one that's had all that plastic surgery fear, Abraham? What?

I'm shocked, Nancy. I'm just shocked. I don't even know where to begin. This guy is actually the one doctor. Well, how about with this? Instead of having a publicist and getting a reality TV star in his operating room, he should be focusing on his patients. That's just to start with.

I'm with you. I'm just, Nancy, I'm speechless. I cannot believe the judgment by this board-certified doctor. Let's hear Dr. Alvarez on the doctors. I want to move on to Dr. Alvarez, who practices in Miami, Florida. And we all know that butts are really big in Miami. Why is that? Well, I think Miami's known for three things.

If you were running around in a thong, you'd want to get your butt done. That could be it. Last time I was there, there were a lot of thongs. Well, we're definitely known for warm weather, hurricanes, and big, beautiful booties. So, you know, we do push the envelope in Miami. I think it's the year of the rear, as they say. That's right. Well, it's not something we commonly do down there, mostly because, you know, Sculptra is a temporary filler,

and people want long-term results. And also the amount of volume. A lot of the volumization you see today is from the saline, and where we are looking for long-term results, fat is your own. Once it heals, it's with you forever. There you hear Dr. Sergio Alvarez on the hit show, The Doctors. What I know, regardless of what is said on TMZ by Dr. Alvarez or what is said on the doctors by Dr. Alvarez or what he posts online, I know right now that 12 women that we know of have died of that procedure in that area. That the epidemic is getting so great that the legislature in Florida is enacting legislation surrounding this.

As of right now, no criminal charges have been filed, nor are they expected. It's up to each woman to judge for herself what is right for her and for her children. Our condolences go out to Dania Placencia's family, to the family of Heather Meadows, to the family of Kizzy London and so many others, so many moms and young women that walk into a plastic surgery center and never walk out. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.

This is an iHeart Podcast.