Florida grandmother dies after botched BBL surgery, doctor fined just $10K

A plastic surgeon in Miami was fined $10,000 and ordered to hold a one-hour lecture after he performed a botched Brazilian butt lift surgery that resulted in the death of a 47-year-old female patient. 

According to Miami Herald, Tanisha Walker traveled to Miami from Indiana in April last year to initially undergo breast reduction surgery. Walker first went to Bright Plastic Surgery for the procedure. But Dr. Paul Goldberg determined she was not in good health for that procedure because of her body mass index of 38.1, her high blood pressure history and medications as well as her pre-diabetic condition. 

Dr. Goldberg is said to have also stated that Walker was “not a candidate for office surgery, but maybe she would be a candidate for surgery in a hospital.” But after Dr. Goldberg denied Walker the procedure, she made her way to New Life Plastic Surgery where Dr. Oliver Simmons gave her the all-clear for a Brazilian butt lift surgery. 

And though New Life attorneys told NBC 6 that the surgery was successful and Walker left the facility in good spirits, her condition took a nosedive as she was being transported to a recovery home. After noticing Walker had become unresponsive in the car, the owner of the recovery home rather took her to the hospital where she passed away.

Her cause of death was ruled as an accident that was caused by a pulmonary embolism. An investigation into the fatal procedure also determined Simmons went against Florida state law when he injected fat into Walker’s gluteal muscles during the procedure, Miami Herald reported. 

Walker, a grandmother of 11, was reportedly the second patient to die after undergoing a Brazilian butt lift surgery at New Life Plastic Surgery. Doctors also told NBC 6 that the number of patients who passed away after undergoing the procedure in 2021 was more than the previous years.

In the wake of her death, Walker’s family told the news outlet they had hired an attorney and wanted someone to be held responsible for her passing.

“I would not allow my mom’s case to go cold, I just won’t. I won’t allow it to happen,” Walker’s daughter,  Tierra Gosha, said at the time. “My mom isn’t supposed to be dead. She’s still supposed to be here with us,” she added elsewhere in the interview.