The wife, 33, went into cardiac arrest while the 40-year-old plastic surgeon in Florida was executing a number of cosmetic surgeries in his office last year. He is accused of killing her, and he has been jailed for not calling 911 for almost 20 minutes after she passed away.
Authorities said that after putting Benjamin Jacob Brown under arrest on Monday, they charged him with one count of second-degree felony homicide for allegedly manslaughter by culpable negligence in Hillary Ellington Brown’s death.
A press release issued by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office states that on November 21, 2023, deputies were dispatched to Restore Plastic Surgery, located in the 1600 block of Nantahala Beach Road in Gulf Breeze, Florida, in response to a report of a medical emergency.
First responders discovered a female victim suffering from cardiac arrest at the office. She was eventually identified as Hillary Brown.
After being sent to a nearby hospital for medical attention, Hillary Brown was declared dead after a week on life support.
After conducting a “thorough investigation” in collaboration with the State Attorney’s Office and the District One Medical Examiner’s Office, the authorities requested and were granted a warrant for Benjamin Brown’s arrest on Friday. On Monday morning, he turned himself up at the sheriff’s office.
In May 2024, the Florida Department of Health issued an order restricting Dr. Brown’s license in an emergency, providing further details regarding Hillary Brown’s demise.
According to the record, Hillary Brown had appointments for “miniature muscle plication/abdominal scar revision, bilateral arm liposuction, lip injections, and ear adjustment procedures” on the day she went into cardiac arrest.
The medical board stated that prior to the surgeries, Hillary Brown—who is not a licensed nurse or doctor—mized her own IV bags and swallowed a “handful” of “multi-colored pills, which included Valium.”
After the initial treatment, Hillary Brown got “restless and her feet began twitching” while Dr. Brown was letting his wife suture her own skin. Her twitching worsened while Dr. Brown was liposuctioning her arm, and things quickly got out of control.
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“(Hillary Brown) stated that her vision started to blur, and she told Dr. Brown that she saw ‘orange,'” as per the report. “Restlessness, muscle twitches, and blurred vision are all early signs of lidocaine toxicity. Dr. Brown continued injecting lidocaine/Xylocaine in (Hillary Brown’s) face.”
Hillary Brown experienced a seizure and lost consciousness shortly after. The Medical Board stated that a physician must “immediately initiate emergency transfer to a higher level of care” in accordance with the “minimum prevailing professional standard of care” when a patient has a seizure while undergoing a medical procedure.
“A medical assistant asked Dr. Brown if they should call 911 and Dr. Brown said ‘no,'” as per the documents. “Over the next 10-20 minutes, a medical assistant asked Dr. Brown if they should call 911 and Dr. Brown said ‘no,’ or ‘wait.’ The medical assistant was scared and a new employee, so she did as Dr. Brown instructed.”
Dr. Brown allegedly “shouted” at the employees, demanding “what medication did she take, what did she take,” rather than dialing 911.
Dr. Brown gave his assistant instructions to dial 911 approximately ten to twenty minutes after Hillary Brown experienced a seizure, but his wife never came back to consciousness. It was eventually discovered that “complications following lidocaine toxicity” were the cause of her death.
According to the medical board, Dr. Brown treated his wife in a “careless and haphazard” manner.
“The level of disregard Dr. Brown paid to patient safety, even when the patient was his wife, indicates that Dr. Brown is unwilling or incapable of providing the appropriate level of care to his future patients,” the board stated. “Dr. Brown’s most problematic violation during H.R.’s procedure was his failure to react swiftly in response to a serious medical emergency.”
Marty Ellington, the father of Hillary Brown, expressed his relief at learning of Dr. Brown’s arrest to the Pensacola News Journal.
“My family lives in a sea of tears for eternity due to the actions of one careless individual,” he stated to the newspaper. “His ego and arrogance overshadowed the need for help, prolonging oxygen deprivation to her brain and ultimately causing her death. Ben Brown took the mother from my grandchildren, my only daughter and our brightest star. Hillary gave the ultimate sacrifice so Ben Brown cannot hurt anyone else. Maybe in prison, he will get the attention he deserves.”
