A Florida plastic surgeon is under investigation after his surgery-obsessed wife went into cardiac arrest while on his operating table.
Hillary Brown, 33, went under the knife at her husband Dr.'s clinic on November 21. Ben Brown, Restore Plastic Surgery, in Gulf Breeze Florida, before she had a medical emergency in the middle of “several procedures.”
Brown, the mother of three young children from a previous marriage, was in a coma for a week before her death because she was taken off life support when her brain was found to be starved of oxygen.
Her husband's clinic is reportedly facing several medical malpractice lawsuits and is being investigated by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office.
Hillary Brown, 33, went into cardiac arrest on November 21 while undergoing several plastic surgeries performed by her husband, who is now under investigation
Dr. Ben Brown, an award-winning plastic surgeon in Florida, married Hillary about two years ago, but her father said she only stayed with him because of her easy access to plastic surgery procedures.
Brown died seven days after the fateful procedure on Nov. 21, when she was rushed to the hospital after Ben called 911 from his clinic around 4:15 p.m.
Court records seen by USA Today show that she was “in the process of undergoing several surgical procedures when she went into cardiac arrest after possibly being overmedicated.
Brown's father, Marty Ellington, told the… Pensacola News Magazine that he received a frantic phone call from Ben telling them they had to race to Florida from their home in Texas right away.
While she said her relationship with Ben had been volatile, Ellington said she enjoyed being married to a plastic surgeon because he could perform numerous surgeries on her on a whim.
'She was beautiful. We kept saying to her, 'Why are you doing this?' he remembered.
An award-winning surgeon, Ben attended Georgetown University and graduated, according to him, at the top of his medical school class Company Profile. His specialties include breast enlargement, facial rejuvenation and body contouring.
Hillary reportedly married Brown about two years ago, and Ellington said their marriage was “intense,” speculating that she might have wanted to leave Ben if her marriage didn't come with the added benefit of frequent plastic surgeries.
“I think she might have wanted to leave… but she couldn't because the lifestyle was beneficial,” he said.
Ben (left) graduated at the top of his medical school class from Georgetown University, but several malpractice lawsuits have reportedly been filed against his clinic
Hillary appeared to undergo a dramatic plastic surgery transformation in recent years, and her father recalled asking her, “Why are you doing this?”
Her social media pages also appear to show that the young mother has undergone a dramatic plastic surgery transformation in recent years, and the frequent procedures led Ellington to question whether Ben was following the correct protocols.
Ellington claimed the surgeon told them they were “out” of the medications they would normally use, “so he used something else.”
He also claims there was no crash cart in the operating room with life-saving equipment such as oxygen and defibrillators.
“The amount of swelling in her brain means her brain has been suffering from oxygen deprivation for quite some time,” Ellington said, claiming there was a lack of properly trained staff to assist in an emergency.
“We want answers,” he continued.
'We have not received any answers. If it's a mistake, then it was a mistake, but it won't bring my daughter back, you know. I don't want his money. I do not want anything. All I want is an answer because I think we owe that to my daughter.”
Ellington added that even if Hillary had wanted to leave her husband, she would have postponed it because “she already has one failed marriage.”
“She didn't want to put the kids through it because she cared so much and cared for her kids. She didn't want to put the children through that again.'
According to the Pensacola News Journal, officers previously responded to a call at the couple's $2.1 million Florida mansion in March, “in reference to a suicide.”
In March, officers reportedly visited the $2.1 million Florida mansion (pictured) over reports of a suicide attempt, with Hillary claiming she took Valium to show her plastic surgeon husband she meant business.
Ben reportedly told the dispatcher that his wife was “barely conscious and still unresponsive due to self-medicating with an unknown amount of Valium.” Hillary admitted to taking Valium but denied she was suicidal. She said she just wanted her husband to know that “she meant it.”
Ben also paid tribute to his wife on social media on November 24, three days after he performed the final operation on her, asking people to 'pray for a miracle'.
“We called 911 and started CPR. Her heart came back, but her brain is not working properly,” he wrote at the time. “Hillary Ellington Brown, you are my soulmate, my world, my everything. Please come back. Please!'
Brown's Restore Plastic Surgery has reportedly filed two medical malpractice lawsuits, with Ben listed as a defendant, according to USA Today.
In that case, Wendy Carden alleged Ben used “foreign material” in reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy in 2018, causing infection and sepsis.
Carden also claimed she suffered nerve damage and permanent injuries as a result of her arms being placed above her head, and accused Brown of “negligently failing to periodically check the position of the upper extremities.”
The case is being heard in Escambia County Circuit Court and is ongoing.
While Brown remains under investigation, his family released a statement condemning the malpractice allegations against the plastic surgeon. They said that “his deep sadness and shock is only exacerbated by the many untruths circulating online and in the media.”
“Ben is completely devastated by the sudden loss of his loving wife Hillary, and is desperately trying to understand how he will live one day, let alone a lifetime without her by his side,” the statement said.
The statement said the surgery was “minor and routine” when Hillary suffered her medical emergency, that all proper medical protocols were followed and that trained staff were also on site.
“Our lives have been forever turned upside down by the loss of Hillary and we will forever hold her in our hearts,” the family concluded.