Posted on 06/18/2024 6:43:27 AM PDT by Red Badger
A plastic surgeon in the Florida panhandle faces a manslaughter charge regarding his wife’s post-surgery death, authorities announced Monday.
Officers of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office (SRCSO) arrested and charged Dr. Benjamin Brown, 41, with “manslaughter by Culpable Negligence” Monday, the SRCSO said. The arrest followed “an extensive investigation in conjunction with the District One Medical Examiner’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office” into the Nov. 28, 2023 death of Hillary Ellington Brown, according to the statement.
Hillary Brown went into cardiac arrest at Brown’s hospital, Restore Plastic Surgery, Nov. 21, 2023, according to the statement. Reportedly moved to a local hospital with the help of SRCSO deputies who responded to the medical emergency, Hillary Brown was eventually placed on life support and then passed on.
Brown remains in custody until his “first appearance where a bond will be determined by a judge and State Attorney’s Office,” the SRCSO said.
The investigation into the cause and manner of death—warranted “when the death was unexpected or the death occurs under unusual circumstances”—began after Hillary Brown’s death, is ongoing, and usually takes several months, according to the SRCSO.
Brown was operating on Hillary Brown just before she experienced seizures and then suffered a cardiac arrest, the Pensacola News Journal (PNJ) reported. The 9-1-1 call note indicated Hillary Brown was “overmedicated”, according to the outlet.
Brown reportedly announced via social media Nov. 24, 2023: “We need prayers for a miracle. Hillary had a cardiac arrest on Tuesday afternoon. We called 911 and started CPR. Her heart came back but her brain is not doing well. She has been in a coma since she went unconscious on Tuesday. Hillary Ellington Brown you are my soulmate, my world, my everything. Please come back. Please!”
“We want answers,” an aggrieved Marty Ellington—the deceased’s father—said, according to the New York Post. “We haven’t been given answers. If it’s a mistake, it was a mistake, but it doesn’t bring my daughter back.”
“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,” he reportedly added.
Brown reportedly told Marty and his wife Dixie Ellington that he had run out of the medication he usually used and thus had put Hillary on a different one. Marty Ellington reportedly queried why Brown did not have more staff and emergency equipment to handle the situation.
Marty and Dixie Ellington also alleged that Brown also had Hillary Brown perform procedures on other patients that she was not qualified to perform, PNJ reported.
Former patient Wendy Carden alleged in a still-open lawsuit that Brown unilaterally used “foreign materials” in a post-mastectomy reconstructive breast surgery on her, occasioning infection and sepsis, according to PNJ.
Some other patients also made troubling allegations, with one saying in part, “[T]hat man has to be stopped,” according to a separate PNJ report.
Republican Pensacola Rep. Michelle Salzman reportedly considered the complaints from former patients and employees of Brown and pushed for an investigation by the Florida Department of Health.
Google lists Restore Plastic Surgery, based in Gulf Breeze, as “Permanently closed”.
You didn’t read the story.
I see now that it said “brown told Marty, and his wife dixie”, my pea brain thought it meant brown’s wife, not Marty’s wife- it’s hot, i can’t think-
“My brain hurts!”
*** it’s hot, i can’t think-***
We were in Florida last week visiting family, and that kind of hot is something I’d forgotten about. When I go to the beach, I want it to be hot, so I can play in the water. We were there for a wedding, and it was sweltering. The outdoor ceremony was the shortest I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t drink water fast enough. Thank goodness the hotel had a pool to plunge into.
+1
5.56mm
I had an English couple fly from UK to St Pete Beach ten years ago for a beach wedding — June 15th. 4 pm on the sand.
Not the best for grandparents.
Beat me to it!
I went to 1 semester of college in florida- it was brutal- but I was younger and able to weather it better than I could now. I used to like the heat, and even extreme cold, used to ice fish at -35 below on the lake, and loved the challenge. Now it gets below +35 and I’m not going out lol
Yeah, beach weddings are beautiful but the timing can be precarious.
This one was in a courtyard of a historic hotel (now also used for some city services). There was a breeze, but not in the courtyard. Limited shade. That’s why the ceremony was so short. It was still semi formal, and the men were almost all in suits and ties. Thank goodness the air conditioning inside the building was working for the reception!
I’m a little familiar with St. Pete Beach. We used to go to Madeira Beach with our whole family. For a week, we would descend upon several units within the same building, and our parents, siblings, and children would have a grand time. The kids loved seeing the bridge to St. Pete Beach go up and down there. Good memories.
“Not sure how the surgeon can be held responsible?”
uh, when the surgeon is ALSO the anesthesiologist as the article explained was the case here ...
Sounds like she was a plastic surgery addict.
Also this:
“Brown also had Hillary Brown perform procedures on other patients that she was not qualified to perform.”
“Hillary Brown had no medical training but helped spike her own IV bags..while taking a ‘handful’ of pills that included Valium.”
Sounds like the doctor should be charged and have his medical license pulled.
I have a funny story about adjusting to temperatures in the Midwest, being a native of Florida. I thought nobody should be outside in 20 degree weather, especially school children.
One day I called the school and asked if it was on for the day, because I hadn’t heard anything on the radio. The school secretary said, yes, of course. Then I asked if anyone was actually there. She replied, “Everyone but your son!”
I told her to give me thirty minutes to bundle our kids up (infant, preschooler, and 1st grader) in their snowsuits and drive over. After dropping off the oldest, I told her that I was from Florida, and was still learning about the Midwest. At least they forgave me, even with a smile!
Totally agree.
“I’ve had several operations, “
Probably at reputable hospitals with reputable staffs.
“That would also set the stage for why some people think this woman was murdered.”
Toxic levels of lidocaine and he delayed resuscitation and calling for help.
What IDIOT doctor would allow that? - risk everything he’d worked for only to have it all taken away from him due to his own stubbornness (refusing to call 911) and stupidity?
My daughter’s friend is about to finish her last year of medical school - after four long years, countless tests, intense study, little to no break time - and go to residency for another five to seven years. I saw the hard, intense work she put in for years on end to earn an MD - and can’t imagine anyone giving that up.
“Basically a one-man shop................”
It was a one man, one woman shop ....
Not now..................😎
lol, that’s pretty funny- its amazing thought how quick we become acclimated to certain climates- one person’s ‘cold’ is another person’s comfortable and vice versa for heat
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