Just ask four patients who had the
All four procedures were performed in a three-day span, and the patients were left with complications including nerve damage, inability to move a leg, perforation of the liver and bowels, severe bleeding, and dehydration. The botched surgeries prompted Florida Surgeon General John Armstrong to issue an emergency order banning
"Dr. Omulepu's continued unrestricted practice as a physician constitutes an immediate serious danger to the health, safety, and welfare of the public," the order reads.
A proceeding looking into further punishment will commence.
Omulepu carried out the surgeries at Spectrum-Aesthetics and Vanity Cosmetic Surgery, both located in Miami.
Here's a breakdown of the four cases that led to the emergency order, according to state documents.
Patient 1: 31-year-old female
Procedure: Liposuction with bilateral fat transfer to the gluteal areas
Date: May 15, 2015
After receiving the surgery at Spectrum, the patient was discharged to a motel. The next morning, she called the clinic to report severe pain. Dr. Omulepu evaluated the patient and said she was merely dehydrated. The patient was given pain medication and fluids, and when she complained of more pain the next day, she was instructed to take more pain medication. She continued to experience severe pain in her abdomen and a fever, and eventually went to the emergency room at Westchester General Hospital.
At the hospital, she was diagnosed with anemia and severe sepsis. Doctors found several perforations in her liver. As a result, she received medication and blood transfusions over a nine-day period. She eventually was transferred to a hospital in Michigan, where she was treated for necrotizing soft tissue infection (note: do not do a Google image search of that if you're having lunch), which required a skin graft.
Patient 2: 35-year-old female
Procedure: Liposuction with bilateral fat transfer to the gluteal areas.
Date: May 15, 2015
Following the procedure at Spectrum, the patient was discharged to a recovery house. The next morning, she could not move her left leg and had severe pain. Omulepu again suspected dehydration and ordered her to receive fluids. However, when the patient wasn't recovering, the staff couldn't get in contact with the doctor.
This patient wound up in the emergency room at Baptist Hospital. There she was diagnosed with septic shock, peritonitis, and acute renal failure. Perforations were found in her small bowel, and the doctor damaged her sciatic nerve during the fat transfer. She remained at Baptist for three weeks before being transferred to Michigan, where she continued receiving care and rehabilitation for three months.
All in all, the patient spent four months in the hospital recovering from the doctor's botched procedure.
Patient
Procedure: Liposuction of stomach, planks, abdomen, and bilateral thighs
Date: May 14, 2015
The patient was discharged to a motel following surgery at Vanity. That night, her father found her bleeding severely, and the patient was taken to Homestead Hospital. She was diagnosed with anemia and dehydration and underwent blood transfusions for two days.
Patient 4: 35-year-old female
Procedure: Liposuction with bilateral fat transfer to the gluteal areas
Date: May 16, 2015
After going under the knife at Vanity, the patient complained of severe bleeding from the incision site. She was staying at a recovery house, but staff there wasn't able to get in contact with the doctor. The patient wound up at Memorial Regional Hospital for three days, where she received a blood transfusion.
In all four cases, Omulepu used a liposuction technique that involves injecting a tumescent solution into a patient's fatty tissues to reduce bleeding. However, he used a solution that was considerably weaker than the standard.
The report also faulted the doctor for releasing his patients to motels and recovery homes instead of medical facilities.
According to the Miami Herald, Omelepu has been licensed to practice medicine in Florida since 2000, but he is not board-certified to perform plastic surgery. However, board certification isn't necessary for cosmetic procedures in Florida.
Omelepu, however, had built a career around performing liposuction and the Brazilian butt lift and had uploaded videos of the procedure to YouTube. An Instagram account he operated with the handle @NipTuckLipo has since been set to private. His profiles on the websites of Vanity and Spectrum have since been removed.
