Addicted to cosmetic surgery, Hillary Brown regularly used her husband’s services for small procedures here and there. Plastic surgeon Dr. Ben Brown ran his own clinic in Gulf Breeze (Florida). A terrible tragedy brought his career to a sudden halt. On November 21, 2023, the 33-year-old American was scheduled to undergo a series of procedures on her husband’s operating table, including a revision of her abdominal scar, arm liposuction, lip injections and adjustments to the ear level.
The investigation established that during her own operation, Hillary Brown played the role of nurse, even though she had no training in the matter, reports the Pensacola News Journal. The thirty-year-old herself allegedly tampered with her IV bag by inserting Valium in particular. Dr. Brown then let his wife suture her own wound after the first procedure. When the doctor began performing liposuction on his wife’s arms, she showed signs of agitation, with her feet beginning to shake.
Hillary told her husband that her vision was starting to blur and she was “seeing orange.” Despite this, Dr. Brown continued with the procedure and continued to inject substances into his wife’s face. The patient’s condition only worsened, turning into an epileptic seizure. A very worried medical assistant then asked the surgeon if he should call the emergency room, but the specialist responded in the negative. It was only twenty minutes later that Dr. Brown decided to alert the emergency services. Mother of three children born from a first marriage, Hillary died of an overdose of anesthetic, after spending a week in a coma.
The surgeon was arrested Monday and charged with negligent homicide. His license was revoked. “Dr. Brown’s level of indifference to patient safety, even his own wife, indicates that he is unwilling or unable to provide the appropriate level of care to his future patients. The most problematic violation (…) was his inability to react quickly to a serious medical emergency,” the medical order concluded in its report. If convicted, the plastic surgeon faces life in prison. His clinic is also exposed to multiple lawsuits.
Hillary and Ben had been married for two years, but their relationship was failing. According to the victim’s father, the thirty-year-old stayed with her husband because she appreciated having unlimited access to cosmetic surgery. “She was beautiful. We kept asking her why she was doing that,” says Marty Ellington.
