South Florida ‘Butt Lift’ Surgery Clinic Linked to 15 Drug-Resistant Bacteria Infections

Florida and federal health officials have determined that 15 infections from a drug-resistant bacteria have been linked to a south Florida clinic that performed Brazilian “butt lift” surgeries in 2022 and 2023.

“Multiple lapses in infection control and prevention were found at an outpatient cosmetic surgery clinic operating with the same staff members,” reads a recent bulletin from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The clinic was not named. The Tampa Bay Times reported that the site closed last year after a Florida Department of Health investigator discovered the cluster of infections in liposuction and butt-lift patients, several of whom live out of state. One patient was hospitalized but no deaths were reported.

After the first clinic closed, the staff moved to a new locale, where investigators found similar problems with cleaning and surgical instrument disinfection, the newspaper reported.

South Florida butt lift clinics have repeatedly been in the news in recent years. In 2017 and in 2022, a patient died after surgery at a clinic in south Florida. A surgeon was allowed to keep his medical license despite claims that he was unauthorized to perform surgeries. Multiple lawsuits have resulted.

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