08-05-2025
Brazilian butt lift ban for Miami doctor after a death. Where's he working now?
The Miami area surgeon in a 2023 Brazilian butt lift death has performed his last legal BBL surgery in Florida after the state's Board of Medicine approved his punishment.
Dr. Ernesto Torres will also pay $15,229 — a $10,000 fine and $5,229 in reimbursement of the Florida Department of Health's case costs. He also has to complete five hours of continuing medical education in laws, rules and ethics.
The next section of the settlement agreement says Torres' 'practice is permanently restricted to prohibit [Torres] from performing gluteal fat transfer/Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBLs).'
This is the first discipline for Torres since he became licensed in Florida on Aug. 31, 2012.
READ MORE: Unfit gas passer in Broward butt-lift death lost her license. Surgeon John Nees hasn't
The address on Torres' license is now that of Towers Medical Center, 1695 NW 110th Ave. Under 'Meet Our Surgeon,' the Towers website says Torres now handles 'hernias such as umbilical hernia, incisional hernia, epigastric hernia, and inguinal hernias minimally invasive. Other surgeries performed by Dr. Torres are gallbladder surgery, colon surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy, and much more.'
The surgery occurred at what was then Jireh Cosmetic Center Corp.'s Miami Lakes Plastic Surgery, 15450 New Barn Rd., suite 106. State records say Jireh Cosmetic Center still has a license at that location, but now is doing business as Serenity Lakes Surgery and Beauty. Torres is still listed as a physician.
Torres hasn't answered a phone message or an email from the Miami Herald about the surgery or the final order.
MORE: Violations by a Miami doctor led to a Brazilian butt lift death, state complaint says
The fatal Brazilian butt lift
According to the Florida Department of Health's administrative complaint, a 32-year-old patient went to Miami Lakes Plastic Surgery for a gluteal fat grafting, commonly called a 'Brazilian butt lift.' Fat is taken from the waist and back via liposuction and injected into the buttocks.
But the fat can't be injected into the actual glute muscles. That's against Florida administrative code because it can cause blood clots that block blood flow into the lungs, bilateral pulmonary embolism, which can be fatal.
The complaint said that's what happened here. Torres injected fat into the patient's glute muscles, her heart began beating rapidly, her blood pressure dropped and she suffered cardiac arrest. She died that night.
The autopsy named bilateral pulmonary fat emboli as the cause of death, with fat graft in several glute muscles and next to sciatic nerves.
