Lipo Patient Given Same Drug That Killed Jacko: Report
BSO has opened an investigation into the case
By TODD WRIGHT and WILLARD SHEPARD
Updated 3:53 PM EST, Fri, Oct 30, 2009
The circumstances surrounding a healthy woman who died during a liposuction treatment at a Weston spa continue to become more alarming.
An investigation of medical charts revealed that just before the cosmetic surgery, Rohie Orukotan’s doctor gave her the same medication that is believed to have killed pop icon Michael Jackson.
The Orukotan’s family attorney said Rohie was given 30 milligrams of propofol, which was listed on an itemized list from the operation at Weston Med Spa. The same drug, which is used as an anesthetic during surgeries, contributed to Jackson’s death on June 25.
The revelation adds sting to an already painful situation for the Miami family.
“My wife was everything to me. She was everything to me,” said Joe Orukotan, Rohie’s husband.
The case has eery similarities to that of the King of Pop. Both were extremely unexpected, involve cosmetic surgery and, more importantly, took the lives of two otherwise healthy people.
In Sept. 25, Rohie Orukotan stepped into the Weston Med Spa in hopes of shedding a few pounds. The 37-year-old nurse had been to the spa before, enticed by the slick TV ads that promised a new look, her husband said.
Dr. Omar Brito performed the laser lipo surgery, but the spa did not have a license to conduct the procedure. Orukotan was unaware of that fact and that may have contributed to the tragedy that happened a few moments later.
Orukotan had an allergic reaction near the end of the procedure, started convulsing and eventually fell into a deep coma that she would never come out of. The family took the Orukotan off life support Oct. 9, leaving children ages 4, 5 and 7 motherless.
“If you are not in a place that has all of the necessary emergency equipment and people to completely revive someone, you don’t give someone that drug,” said an anesthesiologist who did not want to be named.
Brito and his attorneys contend the doctor did nothing wrong during the procedure and was unaware the spa did not have a license for liposuction. Brito has been cooperating with the authorities.
Now the family’s attorney, Michael Freeland, is saying the new information about the powerful drug further shows the negligence of the spa and the physician.
“The use of propofol in the setting that it was administered is an incredibly dangerous situation,” he said. “I can’t imagine what Dr. Brito was thinking.”
The Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances surrounding Orukotan’s death.
Joe Orukotan hopes something is done quickly to give the family some closure.
“They make it look so easy. You just walk in and walk out,” he said. “It’s difficult for me to explain to a 4-year-old your mother is not coming home anymore.”
First Published: Oct 29, 2009 3:38 PM EST
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