A surgeon has been charged with causing his wife’s death by refraining from calling 911 after she went into cardiac arrest on the operating table, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Suspect Benjamin Brown, 41, was arrested Monday on murder and manslaughter charges, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
On November 21, 2023, police responded to Restore Orthopedic Clinic in Gulf Breeze for a medical emergency. Benjamin Brown was performing surgery on Hilary Brown, but while undergoing multiple procedures, Hilary became unresponsive and began having seizures.
She was taken to a hospital and placed on life support, but died a week later, according to the sheriff’s office.
“After conducting a thorough investigation in conjunction with the First Precinct Coroner’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office, our detectives sought an arrest warrant for Dr. Benjamin Brown,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The Florida Department of Health filed documents in May seeking to restrict Benjamin Brown’s medical license in the state. According to the health department, Benjamin Brown performed scar revision, arm liposuction, lip injections, and ear adjustment procedures on Hilary Brown on November 21, 2023. Hilary Brown allegedly prepared her own IV bag and took “a handful of multicolored pills” including Valium prior to the procedures.
According to the health department, Benjamin Brown did not accurately record the contents of his IV bags and did not record the pills at all.
Hilary Brown also assisted with the surgery, including suturing his own skin, though it is unclear whether she has any medical training. Hilary has appeared several times on Restore Plastic Surgery Clinic’s Facebook page, including in one post where she is seen wearing medical scrubs.
According to the health department, Hilary Brown became restless during the procedure and began to have leg cramps. She also told her husband her vision was becoming blurry and she was seeing the color orange.
“Restlessness, muscle spasms and blurred vision are all early symptoms of lidocaine poisoning,” the health department said in a written statement.
Witnesses told the sheriff’s office that even after Hillary Brown began showing signs of a drug overdose, he “continued to inject an unknown amount of lidocaine and did not stop until the victim suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest,” according to the arrest warrant.
According to the health department, when a medical assistant asked Benjamin Brown if he should call 911, he responded “no” or “please wait.” According to the arrest warrant, the employee told the sheriff’s office that she asked him “multiple times” if he should call 911, but that he said he “wanted to do it himself.”
According to the health department, it was about 10 to 20 minutes after the seizure that Benjamin Brown asked his assistant to call 911.
Hilary Brown was rushed to a trauma center by paramedics with “elevated lactate levels and suspected lidocaine toxicity.” She never regained consciousness and died on November 28, 2023.
Benjamin Brown was arrested on suspicion of second-degree felony murder and manslaughter. He was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail on Monday and released the same day on $50,000 bail, according to online records.
Brown’s lawyer, Barry Velocette, told NBC News, “Dr. Brown maintains his innocence and intends to vigorously defend the charges in court.” The arraignment is scheduled for July 11, according to online records.
Restore Plastic Surgery is listed as “closed” on Google.
