-
- MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami Beach
police said on Tuesday they were looking for a fake doctor who drugged
people with an animal anesthetic and performed botched cosmetic surgeries
that left one man with female breast implants and a woman with badly misshapen
breasts.
-
- Police said the suspect, Reinaldo Silvestre, 58, has
no medical training.
-
- Two other people have been arrested in connection with
the bizarre case. Police said Julio Montes Deoca, 56, delivered the anesthetic
and Sophia Boza, 51, assisted in the operations.
-
- All three face charges of practicing medicine without
a license, aggravated battery and improper use of a controlled substance,
the anesthetic.
-
- Authorities began investigating after a patient, described
as a former model in her 20s, showed them a videotape she had made of Silvestre
allegedly operating on a male body builder who wanted pectoral implants.
-
- ``He ended up with female breast implants,'' police Capt.
Charles Press said.
-
- According to Press, the tape shows the doctor jamming
the implants into the patient's chest with ``a spatula-type thing that
you'd see in a kitchen'' and sewing up the incision with crude X-shaped
stitches.
-
- The patient awoke three times during the procedure and
was told to go back to sleep, he said.
-
- ``This was a horror movie,'' Press said. ``They did things
to this guy that would just boggle the mind.''
-
- The woman videotaped the operation at Silvestre's request
because he had never performed a pectoral surgery and wanted to document
his work, Press said.
-
- The woman was a former patient who had received breast
implants last spring at Silvestre's clinic on Lincoln Road Mall, a trendy
strip of outdoor cafes and art galleries.
-
- The botched operation left her with misshapen breasts
that ''were actually in different locations on her body,'' Press said.
-
- The left implant ``was actually misshapen and loose and
could be forced in very different ways, depending on the touch,'' Press
said.
-
- The woman, who befriended Silvestre, reportedly became
suspicious when he performed follow-up operations that failed to correct
her disfigurement. She took the video to police in September.
-
- Silvestre reportedly charged $4,000 to $5,000 for the
operations, which police said is the going rate for plastic surgery in
Miami.
-
- When investigators went to Silvestre's Ocean Health Center,
the office was closed, the equipment sold, the building emptied and Silvestre
gone.
-
- Police said he anesthetized patients with Katamine, an
animal tranquilizer known on the street as ``Special K,'' and operated
at night when other offices in the building were empty.
-
- ``Their lives were very much in danger,'' Press said.
-
- Police were still investigating whether Silvestre mutilated
others. The two known victims, described as terribly scarred and embarrassed,
apparently learned of Silvestre through word of mouth.
-
-
- Fake Surgeon Accused Of Mangling Patients
-
- By Jane Sutton http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991006/od/crime_surgeon_1.html
10-7-99
-
-
- MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami Beach police said on Tuesday
they were looking for a fake doctor who drugged people with an animal anesthetic
and performed botched cosmetic surgeries that left one man with female
breast implants and a woman with badly misshapen breasts.
-
- Police said the suspect, Reinaldo Silvestre, 58, has
no medical training.
-
- Two other people have been arrested in connection with
the bizarre case. Police said Julio Montes Deoca, 56, delivered the anesthetic
and Sophia Boza, 51, assisted in the operations.
-
- All three face charges of practicing medicine without
a license, aggravated battery and improper use of a controlled substance,
the anesthetic.
-
- Authorities began investigating after a patient, described
as a former model in her 20s, showed them a videotape she had made of Silvestre
allegedly operating on a male body builder who wanted pectoral implants.
-
- ``He ended up with female breast implants,'' police Capt.
Charles Press said.
-
- According to Press, the tape shows the doctor jamming
the implants into the patient's chest with ``a spatula-type thing that
you'd see in a kitchen'' and sewing up the incision with crude X-shaped
stitches.
-
- The patient awoke three times during the procedure and
was told to go back to sleep, he said.
-
- ``This was a horror movie,'' Press said. ``They did things
to this guy that would just boggle the mind.''
-
- The woman videotaped the operation at Silvestre's request
because he had never performed a pectoral surgery and wanted to document
his work, Press said.
-
- The woman was a former patient who had received breast
implants last spring at Silvestre's clinic on Lincoln Road Mall, a trendy
strip of outdoor cafes and art galleries.
-
- The botched operation left her with misshapen breasts
that ''were actually in different locations on her body,'' Press said.
-
- The left implant ``was actually misshapen and loose and
could be forced in very different ways, depending on the touch,'' Press
said.
-
- The woman, who befriended Silvestre, reportedly became
suspicious when he performed follow-up operations that failed to correct
her disfigurement. She took the video to police in September.
-
- Silvestre reportedly charged $4,000 to $5,000 for the
operations, which police said is the going rate for plastic surgery in
Miami.
-
- When investigators went to Silvestre's Ocean Health Center,
the office was closed, the equipment sold, the building emptied and Silvestre
gone.
-
- Police said he anesthetized patients with Katamine, an
animal tranquilizer known on the street as ``Special K,'' and operated
at night when other offices in the building were empty.
-
- ``Their lives were very much in danger,'' Press said.
-
- Police were still investigating whether Silvestre mutilated
others. The two known victims, described as terribly scarred and embarrassed,
apparently learned of Silvestre through word of mouth.
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