Three charged in S.C. for aggravated assault, battery after botched liposuction
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From left to right: Rojas, Orozco and Neibles |
Three people - none of whom possesses a medical degree - were charged with aggravated assault and battery in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., on June 18 after allegedly performing liposuction on a woman who required emergency medical care shortly after being driven home by the suspects.
Miguel Andres Trujillo Orozco, 31, of North Myrtle Beach, and Nubia Trujillo Rojas, 53, and Adriana Sofia Chica Neibles, 41, both of Colombia, were also charged with practicing medicine without a license and possession of illegal substances. The suspects are each being held on $50,000 bond.
Police said liposuction procedures had been regularly performed in the bedroom of a North Myrtle Beach apartment, but that they were unaware of the set-up until the 19-year-old patient was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center shortly after the trio drove her home immediately following the procedure.
ASPS member Ralph Cozart, MD, was the plastic surgeon on E.R. call at the medical center June 17 when he was informed at about 10 p.m. that a then-unconscious patient had arrived at the hospital. He also was told why she needed emergency medical care. "I couldn't believe it," Dr. Cozart tells PSN. "I thought: ‘Are you kidding me?' I've heard of this happening in New York and Florida, but not here."
Dr. Cozart administered about four bags of fluid, after which the patient regained consciousness. Her recovery continues, he says. "She was able to remember exactly the apartment building and the apartment number," Dr. Cozart recalls. "From there, I could figure out what jurisdiction it was - and I was able to file a police report."
Dr. Cozart and his wife went to the North Myrtle Beach Police Department and filed a police report around 3 a.m. on June 18, he says. At about 9 a.m., he was contacted by a detective requesting photos of the patient. "The detective also wanted me to be available during the search in order to identify liposuction equipment, drugs and other items as necessary," Dr. Cozart says.
Police obtained a search warrant and raided the apartment that day. "When they executed the raid, there was no surgery going on, but one of the suspects was there," said Dr. Cozart. "Also, a patient who had been operated on June 15 was still in the apartment." Dr. Cozart, a nurse and EMS personnel accompanied the police on the raid in case a procedure was in progress, he says.
The victim told police that she had contacted the suspects online, after which two of them picked her up at a Myrtle Beach mall on June 16. She was taken to the apartment where the procedure was performed, but she lost consciousness during the procedure. She told police that she woke up in a Ford Explorer, with two of the suspects driving her home. She added that she had paid them $1,500 in advance for the procedure and was supposed to pay another $1,500 after.
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