A doctor’s career is on the line after four women claimed they were hospitalized with serious complications after undergoing plastic surgery.
The State of Florida is trying to revoke or suspend the license of Dr. Osak Omulepu. He’ll face a judge for an administrative hearing starting Wednesday.
Dr. Omulepu is known for what he calls his "specialty" procedure – the Brazilian Butt Lift. The procedure involves fat being removed from a patient’s stomach or back and then being injected into their backside.
Women who aren’t part of the hearing but say they were operated on by Dr. Omulepu and were unhappy with their results have come forward.
Nicola Mason traveled a thousand miles from her home in Maryland to Miami to undergo the procedure after speaking with Dr. Omulepu’s assistant.
"She said, 'You'll have better results with Dr. Omulepu, he’s our butt lift king, he will take care of you, I promise,'" Mason claims.
But when Mason woke up from surgery, she says she did not get what she paid for. Mason said Dr. Omulepu performed a tummy tuck instead of a Brazilian Butt Lift.
Local
“He (Dr. Omulepu) said, 'I changed it, I thought you would rather wake up skinny and you already have a really nice tight [expletive],'" claimed Mason.
Crystal Heath of Chicago claimed the same thing happened to her with the same doctor. She went in for a Brazilian Butt Lift and the doctor performed a tummy tuck instead.
"I’m like, a tummy tuck? I didn’t need a tummy tuck I paid for a Brazilian Butt Lift," Heath said. "This is ridiculous."
Both women claim not only did the doctor perform the wrong surgery, they said he left them with large holes in their stomachs after cutting them from hip to hip.
"He scarred me for life and he made me not feel like the woman I once was," said Mason.
The upcoming state hearing could result in the doctor losing his medical license. Again, it’s taking place not because of what Mason and Heath claimed happened to them, but because four other women filed complaints that the doctor’s procedures landed them in the hospital last year.
Various patients will be speaking and presenting their stories in front of an administrative judge, and Dr. Omulepu’s attorney and his experts will be presenting their side of the case as well.
In documents filed with the State, the doctor’s attorney said the complications were “covered with the informed consent signed by the patient” and also stated because a "complication occurs, that does not indicate he deviated from the standard of care." The doctor’s attorney also stated Dr. Omulepu has performed more than 5,000 fat transfer procedures without “a single incident prior to or since the cases at issue."
In email to the NBC 6 Investigators, Dr. Omulepu’s attorney Monica Rodriguez stated in part, "Dr. Omulepu, after a year and a half, finally has a chance to defend himself against the allegations being made against him…” and went on to state “He remains committed to the compassionate care of his patients.”
Nicola Mason said she has created an online group for patients to connect. She said she finds comfort in knowing she’s not alone.
“Nobody wants to say ‘Hey, I had plastic surgery and it didn’t work and it happened to me’,” said Mason. “Nobody wants to be that poster child but somebody has to do it,” she said.
An administrative judge will make a recommendation whether to take action against the doctor’s license. The recommendation will then be considered by Florida’s Medical Board later this year.
The NBC 6 Investigators will cover Omulepu’s hearing and update this story.
