A Gwinnett County judge awarded the family of Doris Jordan $52 million in damages following her death after cosmetic surgery in Lawrenceville.
Superior Court Judge Jon W. Setzer awarded James Jordan, Doris’ husband, a total of $52 million in damages for the death of Doris Jordan in the case of James Jordan v. Sei Bello, LLC; Anesthesia Surgical Consultants, LLC; and John Holmes. The breakdown of the award was $16 million for Doris’ pain and suffering and $36 million for her wrongful death.
“What I want… I want my wife back,” Jordan said in an interview with Atlanta News First. “The money doesn’t compensate for what she did for me and our family,” Jordan said.
However, according to Moses Kim, Jordan’s attorney, the family is unlikely to recover much, if any, of the $52 million judgment because the clinic did not have insurance at the time of the procedure.
“We don’t even get a dollar,” Jordan said. “We lost her, and we don’t get the answers we’re seeking.”
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In December 2019, Doris Jordan died after liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift performed at Sei Bello, a cosmetic surgery clinic located in Lawrenceville.
According to court testimony, Doris, a nurse, Army veteran, and mother of three, passed away due to brain damage resulting from a lack of oxygen.
Kim stated that the clinic ran out of anesthesia during the procedure, and the patient’s condition worsened in the minutes immediately after the surgery. Doris died the day after the procedure.
“Miss Jordan was not breathing, and when they went to see if she was getting any oxygen through the tubes in her nose, they ran the line, and realized the end of the plastic tube wasn’t connected to any oxygen because they didn’t have any oxygen in the facility,” Kim said.
According to court documents and witness statements, the clinic’s internal operations were characterized by multiple major errors.
“The malpractice that occurred began before the surgery ever started,” Kim stated. “This was a disaster waiting to happen.”
Sei Bello was officially dissolved by the state in October 2020 because it failed to register and pay the required fees, according to state records. This dissolution occurred less than a year after the woman’s death.
Records obtained by Atlanta News First reveal that John Holmes, the owner of the clinic, had previously run a business named “Butts Gone Wild” in the same Lawrenceville complex.
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Dr. Kanye Willis, the physician who performed the procedure, reached an independent settlement with the family, as confirmed by their attorney.
The case highlights the dangers for patients, especially in the expanding cosmetic surgery industry, when clinics lack proper oversight and insurance. Kim underscored this point, noting that while state licensing records show a “Kanye Willis” is still board-certified in Georgia, the nurse involved in the incident allowed their license to lapse in 2023.
Kim also highlighted the evolving landscape of medical malpractice lawsuits in Georgia.
“Consumers really need to do their own homework to make sure that these operations are high-quality operations,” Kim remarked.
Now living in Florida with his children, Jordan continues to feel the impact of his wife’s death on their lives. He shared his family’s story in the hope that it will encourage others to approach cosmetic surgery decisions with seriousness.
“I just hope people get this and look into it seriously, because these pop-up clinics are not all they appear to be on the surface,” Jordan said.
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