A plastic surgeon has been arrested and charged in connection with his surgery-obsessed wife’s death on his operating table, as shocking details of her death are revealed.
Hillary Brown, 33, went under the knife on November 21 at her husband Dr Ben Brown’s clinic, Restore Plastic Surgery, in Gulf Breeze Florida, before suffering a medical emergency in the middle of ‘several procedures.’
Dr. Brown, 40, was charged on Monday with second-degree felony homicide: manslaughter by culpable negligence in connection with his wife’s death following an investigation by county and state officials.
Hillary Brown’s father has said his daughter enjoyed being married to a plastic surgeon as he could perform any number of surgeries on her at a whim.
However, the conditions on the operating table at her husband’s practice that led to her death are disturbing following an investigation by the state health department.
Hillary Brown, 33, went under the knife on November 21 at her husband Dr Ben Brown’s clinic, Restore Plastic Surgery, in Gulf Breeze Florida, before suffering a medical emergency in the middle of ‘several procedures’
Dr. Brown, 40, was charged on Monday with second-degree felony homicide: manslaughter by culpable negligence in connection with his wife’s death following an investigation by county and state officials
Dr. Brown’s wife was having a ‘miniature muscle plication/abdominal scar revision, bilateral arm liposuction, lip injections, and ear adjustment procedures’ performed on the day of the cardiac arrest.
The findings of the investigation – which led to an emergency restriction of his license – show that Hillary, who had no medical training, almost acted as a nurse for her own procedure.
To begin with, Hillary is said to have spiked her own IV bag while taking a ‘handful’ of pills that included Valium.
Dr. Brown even allowed Hillary to suture her own skin after the initial procedure.
As her husband began to do liposuction on her arm, Hillary started to grow restless, when her feet suddenly started to twitch.
‘She stated that her vision started to blur, and she told Dr. Brown that she saw ‘orange,” the report claims.
However, her husband didn’t stop the procedure, continuing to inject substances into her face.
Her twitching only got worse, until she became unresponsive and began having a seizure, the medical board says.
Hillary Brown’s father has said his daughter enjoyed being married to a plastic surgeon as he could perform any number of surgeries on her at a whim
The conditions on the operating table at her husband’s practice that led to her death are disturbing following an investigation by the state health department
‘A medical assistant asked Dr. Brown if they should call 911 and Dr. Brown said ‘no,” despite Hillary’s condition requiring a doctor to ‘transfer to a higher level of care’ after her seizure.
‘Over the next 10-20 minutes, a medical assistant asked Dr. Brown if they should call 911 and Dr. Brown said ‘no,’ or ‘wait.’ The medical assistant was scared and a new employee, so she did as Dr. Brown instructed.’
Dr. Brown didn’t just refuse to take Hillary to an emergency care, he began to yell at his staff and asked her what she took.
He finally asked an assistant to dial 911 10 to 20 minutes after his wife’s seizure.
A mother of three young children from a previous marriage, Hillary Brown spent a week in a coma before she passed away, as she was taken off life support when it was determined her brain had been starved of oxygen.
Brown passed away seven days after the fateful procedure on November 21, when she was rushed to hospital after Ben alerted 911 from his clinic at around 4:15pm.
‘Her cause of death was later determined to be ‘complications following lidocaine toxicity,’ the report states.
Ultimately, the board’s official ruling says the way he treated his own wife was ‘careless and haphazard.’
The findings of the investigation – which led to an emergency restriction of his license – show that Hillary, who had no medical training, almost acted as a nurse for her own procedure
‘The level of disregard Dr. Brown paid to patient safety, even when the patient was his wife, indicates that Dr. Brown is unwilling or incapable of providing the appropriate level of care to his future patients,’ they wrote.
‘Dr. Brown’s most problematic violation during H.R.’s procedure was his failure to react swiftly in response to a serious medical emergency.’
Brown could face up to life in prison, life on probation, and a $10,000 fine if convicted on second-degree homicide.
Her husband’s clinic is reportedly also facing several separate medical malpractice lawsuits.
Brown’s father, Marty Ellington, told the Pensacola News Journal that he received a frantic phone call from Ben telling them to race to Florida from their home in Texas right away.
While saying her relationship with Ben had been volatile, Ellington said, she appreciated his career.
‘She was gorgeous. We kept telling her, ‘Why are you doing this?’ he recalled.
An award-winning surgeon, Ben studied at Georgetown University and graduated top of his medical school class, according to his company profile. His specialties include breast enhancement, facial rejuvenation and body contouring.
Hillary is said to have spiked her own IV bag while taking a ‘handful’ of pills that included Valium
Hillary reportedly married Brown around two years ago, and Ellington said their marriage was ‘intense’, speculating she may have wanted to leave Ben if her marriage didn’t come with the added benefit of frequent plastic surgeries.
‘I think that maybe she would want to leave… but she couldn’t because the lifestyle was favorable,’ he said.
Her social media pages also appear to show the young mother went through a dramatic plastic surgery transformation in recent years, and the frequent procedures led Ellington to question if proper protocols were being followed by Ben.
Ellington claimed that the surgeon told them they were ‘out of’ the medicine they would usually use, ‘so he used something different.’
He also claims there was no crash cart in the operating room with life-saving equipment such as oxygen and defibrillators.
‘With the amount of swelling in her brain that means her brain suffered from lack of oxygen for quite some time,’ Ellington said, claiming there was a lack of properly trained staff on hand to help in case of emergency.
‘We want answers,’ he continued.
‘We haven’t been given answers. If it’s a mistake, it was a mistake, but it doesn’t bring my daughter back, you know. 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.’
Brown finally asked an assistant to dial 911 10 to 20 minutes after his wife’s seizure
Ellington added that even if Hillary had wanted to leave her husband, she would have delayed because ‘she already has one failing marriage.’
‘She didn’t want to drag the kids through it because she was so giving and caring for her kids. She didn’t want to drag the kids through that again.’
According to the Pensacola News Journal, deputies previously responded to a call at the couple’s $2.1 million Florida mansion in March, ‘in reference to a suicide.’
Ben reportedly told dispatcher his wife was ‘barely conscious and still unresponsive due to self-medication with an unknown amount of Valium.’ Hillary admitted to taking the Valium but denied being suicidal, saying she just wanted her husband to know ‘she was serious.’
Ben also paid tribute to his wife on social media on November 24, three days after he performed the final surgery on her, as he asked people to ‘pray for a miracle’.
‘We called 911 and started CPR. Her heart came back but her brain is not doing well,’ he wrote at the time. ‘Hillary Ellington Brown you are my soulmate, my world, my everything. Please come back. Please!’
Brown’s Restore Plastic Surgery reportedly has two medical malpractice lawsuits against it, with one listing Ben as a defendant, according to USA Today.
That case saw Wendy Carden allege that Ben used ‘foreign materials’ in a post-mastectomy reconstructive breast surgery in 2018, causing infection and sepsis.
Hillary reportedly married Brown around two years ago, and her father said their marriage was ‘intense’, speculating she may have wanted to leave Ben if her marriage didn’t come with the added benefit of frequent plastic surgeries
Carden also claimed she suffered nerve damage and permanent injury as a result of having her arms positioned above her head, accusing Brown of ‘negligently failing to periodically monitor the position of the upper extremities.’
The case is being heard in the Escambia County Circuit Court, and is ongoing.
While Brown was still under investigation, his family released a statement condemning allegations of malpractice against the plastic surgeon, saying ‘his deep grief and shock is only compounded by many mistruths circulating online and in the media.’
‘Ben is completely devastated by the sudden loss of his loving wife Hillary, and is desperately trying to understand how to live one day, never mind a lifetime without her by his side,’ the statement read.
The statement said the surgery was ‘minor and routine’ when Hillary suffered her medical emergency, all proper medical protocols were followed, and trained staff were also on the scene.
‘Our lives have been permanently upended by the loss of Hillary and we will forever keep her in our hearts,’ the family’s statement concluded.
Dr. Brown is currently being held in a county jail pending first appearance where a bond will be determined by a judge and State Attorney’s Office.
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