PORTO ST. LUCIE – Two people who worked at Cosmetica Plastic Surgery and Anti-Aging were arrested on racketeering charges after police and state officials reported discovering a series of problems at the facility, including surgical procedures performed by a physician assistant instead of a licensed surgeon, records show.
The arrests came after several patients at the business in the 1900 block of Southeast Port St. Lucie Boulevard, just west of U.S. 1, reported going to other doctors after facing serious health problems following procedures there.
Arrested June 13 in the case were Fermal Lee Simpson, 74, and Dianne Linda Millan, 52, both of Port St. Lucie. Simpson, in a deposition, told authorities that he provided anesthesia at the company “during procedures at which no physician was present,” records state.
Millan appeared to be a member or technician of the surgical team.
Sergeant Dominick Mesiti, a police spokesman, said Monday that police are looking for other suspects in the case.
Patients reported receiving procedures such as “360 liposuction,” “Brazilian butt lift with fat transfer,” “abdominoplasty,” and “breast augmentation.”
According to the records, the state Department of Health, on May 30, 2023, issued a definitive order revoking the company’s operating registration. This followed an emergency suspension order in June 2022.
Court records show the state Department of Health reported that Cosmetica Plastic and Anti-Aging Surgery “violated numerous statutes and rules, resulting in the immediate suspension of surgery registration at the company’s office.”
The state Department of Health began investigating after an anonymous tip in March 2022, while Port St. Lucie Police began investigating later.
Police spoke in August 2022 with a doctor who said he has been a board-certified plastic surgeon in Florida since 1990 and has his own practice.
This doctor said he was the supervising doctor for the first few years, but from late 2021 to early 2022 he noticed some changes. Surgical procedures should be referred to a doctor, but the number of referrals has fallen.
Records show the doctor found evidence suggesting procedures were being performed inappropriately.
“…we saw a lot of patients on Instagram having surgeries you should NOT have,” the doctor reportedly wrote in an email to a physician assistant. “These are not approved by me. I have to feel comfortable with you doing these surgeries. I also know that you are working with an unlicensed doctor. These surgeries are risking my license.”
The doctor notified the state Department of Health, records show.
Police noted that the state Department of Health reported inconsistencies and errors in records “indicative of gross negligence or intentional concealment.”
A doctor who treated one of the patients who had problems after going to the Cosmetic Plastic Surgery and Anti-Aging consultation reported that “the first time he saw her, he almost fainted due to the severity of her condition due to the liposuction,” the records state.
This doctor commented “by saying that ‘the most dangerous individual in the world is unethical.’ Referring to patients, he said ‘they trust you with their lives and you can convince them to carry out any procedure because they trust you’. He felt this was the (redacted) situation and the company,” records show.
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or contact him at 772-267-7926. Email him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Port St. Lucie plastic surgery workers arrested in extortion case
