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    Thursday • May 8, 2025
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    Home»Under the Knife

    Documentary Dives Into High Volume BBL Clinics, Where 92% of Fla BBL Deaths Occur

    In "The Price of Perfection: The dangers of Brazilian butt lifts" (2023), Al Jazeera's Fault Lines investigates Florida’s cosmetic surgery industry and the "battle between profits and patient safety."
    By Surgical TimesJune 8, 2023

    Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines released Wednesday a 25-minute documentary covering the deadly Brazilian butt lift surgery industry in Miami, Fla., where some 92 percent of the state’s BBL-related deaths reportedly occur.

    “The Price of Perfection; Inside Miami’s Deadly Plastic Surgery Industry,” had been viewed on YouTube more than 42,000 times within a day of its release.

    Investigation by Fault Lines revealed a “pattern of surgeons engaging in unsafe practices and lobbying lawmakers to allow them to continue doing so.”

    The film focuses on a number of medical providers in the area, all of whom declined to comment, answer a list of questions provided, or otherwise participate in the film, its narrator says.

    Since 2015, 21 women have died in Florida during or after Brazilian butt lift surgery, a procedure professionally known as gluteal fat grafting.

    Viewers hear from survivors and bereaved relatives, as well as investigators and board-certified surgeons hoping to make a change.

    Past patient deaths occurring at or involving providers from Mia Aesthetics, Miami’s Seduction Cosmetic Surgery, and Dr. Sergio Alvarez, are discussed.

    Drs Pat Pazmiño, M.D., Alexander Earle, M.D. and KFF Health News’ Daniel Chang feature in the film as experts and advocates for increased regulation.

    “No one needs to die from this procedure,” says Pazmiño, whose research revealed that more than 90 percent of the state’s deaths due to gluteal fat grafting occurred at what he calls “high-volume clinics.”

    Dr. Pazmiño warns that some of the clinics, once isolated to parts of Miami, are now adopting a franchise model that could bring the same high-mortality-rate treatments to other major cities.

    A Fault Lines documentary on the dangers of Brazilian butt lift surgery in Florida, released Wednesday, June 7, had been viewed over 40,000 times in one day. “In this episode of Fault Lines, we look into Florida’s cosmetic surgery industry, which has made national headlines for its high incidence of patient death and disfigurement, especially with regard to the extremely popular Brazilian butt lift (BBL) surgeries. The Florida Board of Medicine has spent years trying to place guardrails on the industry, particularly with regard to BBL surgeries, but our investigation reveals a pattern of surgeons engaging in unsafe practices and lobbying lawmakers to allow them to continue doing so.” – Al Jazeera English

    Fault Lines is an American current affairs documentary series produced by Al Jazeera English.

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    Objective. Independent. Informative. Public interest reporting on the practice of plastic surgery not affiliated with or funded by any surgeon, device manufacturer, or practice.

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