Lipo Death an Accident: Medical Examiner
Dr. Omar Brito may be off the hook from criminal charges
A woman who died during a liposuction procedure at a spa in Weston was accidentally killed by an anesthesia overdose, but it wasn't propofol, a Broward Medical Examiner's report has determined.
In September, Rohie Kah-Orukotan, 37, was a healthy mother of three when she walked into the Weston MedSpa looking to shed a few pounds She never walked out and died a few weeks later.
The doctor who performed the surgery, Dr. Omar Brito, will likely not face any criminal charges, but is facing a lawsuit from the family. He allegedly performed the surgery at a spa that was not licensed or equipped for laser liposuction.
Weston MedSpa closed down after the medical mishap.
The Broward Sheriff's Office was investigating possible criminal charges, but had been waiting for the Medical Examiner's report. Attorney's for the family claimed it was the propofol, the same drug that killed Michael Jackson, that doomed Orukotan.
A lab report showed Brito had administered the drug before the procedure.
According to the opinion by the Medical Examiner's Office, it was toxic levels of lidocaine that brought on the cardiac arrest that killed Kah-Orukotan.
"Lidocaine toxicity is an unexpected outcome of this surgery, therefore, the manner of death is determined to be: ACCIDENT," the report reads.
Brito had continued to practice cosmetic surgery in Miami, but has not done liposuction procedures since the Kah-Orukotan death, his attorney said.
His license was suspended earlier this month after the family complained.
Posted Thursday, Mar 18, 2010 - 5:34 PM EST
