Fake doctor is charged after ‘butt lift’ surgery leaves NY woman near death

NEW YORK – A Queens man posing as a doctor was charged with assault and practising medicine without a licence after a woman went into cardiac arrest during a botched cosmetic surgery at a makeshift home clinic, according to an internal police report.

The man, Felipe Hoyos Foronda, 38, tried to flee the United States after the woman became unresponsive, according to the report. Officers caught up with him at Kennedy Airport on March 28, just hours after the operation, as he waited to board the first leg of a flight to Colombia, the report said.

The woman, 31, was taken to a hospital by emergency medical workers, where she was intubated, according to a criminal complaint filed on March 29 by the Queens district attorney.

She had “no brain activity,” the complaint said, “and she is not likely to survive.” (It was unclear who called 911 to report her condition.)

The woman, who has not been publicly identified, had come to the clinic to have her buttock implants removed, according to the internal police report.

Prosecutors said Hoyos Foronda used a syringe to inject her with lidocaine, an anaesthetic, and that her condition appeared to be consistent with lidocaine toxicity.

New York City has seen a surge of illegal clinics and “medical spas” offering discounted rates to people who want to change their appearance, in ways both large and small.

In January, an aesthetician in Manhattan was charged with injecting patients with counterfeit Botox that caused physical injuries, including botulism. And in recent years, at least two unlicensed practitioners of “butt lift” procedures were charged with manslaughter after their clients died.

Unlicensed, but busy

Hoyos Foronda appears to have been a busy, if unlicensed, cosmetic surgeon who worked in New York City and Miami and on Long Island, according to online records and advertisements.

In Queens, he performed procedures in a brick house on a residential street in Astoria lined with tall trees and well-kept gardens. On April 3, an order to vacate was pasted to the door.

Neighbours said they had seen a swarm of emergency vehicles arrive on the block on March 28 but that they knew little about the man police were seeking.

Police first learned about the facility on March 28, when a friend of the injured woman went to the house to pick her up after the procedure, the report said. But when the friend arrived, she learned that the woman’s procedure had gone awry.

The friend called police, the report said. Soon after, officers interviewed the landlord, who gave them a physical description and photograph of Hoyos Foronda.

Police found his licence plate information and tracked his car to the Van Wyck Expressway en route to Kennedy Airport, the report said.

Officers notified other law enforcement agencies about Hoyos Foronda, and the Port Authority police searched the airport until they found him. He was waiting to board a flight to Florida, where he had planned to take a connecting flight to Colombia, the report said.

Hoyos Foronda remained in custody at Rikers Island on April 3. His lawyer did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Advertising online

Like many operators of medical spas and fly-by-night aesthetic or surgical centers, Hoyos Foronda was active on social media, where he sometimes identified himself as a doctor. Online, he provided potential clients with a window into his business.

On TikTok, he listed prices for procedures, advertised sales and mentioned special events, including a US$450 (S$599) “Botox Party” during the Christmas holiday.

He also posted videos of the procedures themselves, some of which appeared to be performed on massage tables in a residential setting as dramatic music played in the background.

In one video, a woman can be seen undergoing a gluteal procedure while lying on a table next to a blue couch, as messages in Spanish flash on the screen: “sculpt your glutes with our machine” and “safe and painless method”.

In another video posted in December 2023, a man can be seen leaning over a woman’s stomach as she lies on a massage table. The video assures clients of “personalised attention and high standards of quality.”

It appears to have been filmed in an apartment, and a popular TikTok sound effect plays on a loop over the footage. NYTIMES