Rohie Kah-Orukotan, the 37-year-old Miramar woman declared brain dead after a liposuction gone awry at a Weston spa, has died, the Broward County medical examiner announced Tuesday.

She had been on life support since the Sept. 25 surgery and was taken to the medical examiner's office Friday, investigators said.

The mother of three was a registered nurse who worked at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah. Her husband, Joseph Orukotan, declined to comment.

Kah-Orukotan's cause of death will be established following toxicology tests, which will take three to six weeks to complete, said a spokesman for the medical examiner.

Attorneys for Kah-Orukotan's family said they are trying to establish exactly what happened to her at Weston MedSpa, 1916 Weston Rd.

``It's pointing pretty clearly to the fact she had a full-blown liposuction procedure,'' said Anthony Russo, a lawyer representing Joseph Orukotan. ``Also . . . it's pointing to the fact she was administered a higher dosage of lidocaine than is recommended for a person her size.''

He has requested and received medical records from Dr. Omar Brito, the doctor who performed the cosmetic procedure at the spa. However, his request for documents from Weston MedSpa have been ignored, Russo said.

Brito's attorney, Brian Bieber, said his client conducted a low-level liposuction, ``also known as liposculpture.''

Bieber said Brito removed about 1,000 cubic centimeters of fat from Kah-Orukotan, and that he used lidocaine as a local anesthetic. Complications arose near the end of the two-hour procedure.

Brito, Bieber said, ``committed no malpractice, and this is a tragic consequence of a routine surgical procedure. Unfortunately, medicine is not an exact science.''

The chapter of Florida Administrative Code regulating standards of practice for doctors and surgeries, however, is precise.

The law distinguishes between three levels of surgery permitted in a physician's office, and the safeguards required for each.

The lowest level allows a licensed physician to perform a liposuction that removes less than 4,000 cubic centimeters of fat, using a local anesthetic, in the office.

Higher levels of surgery, including liposuction that removes more than 4,000 cubic centimeters of fat and require general anesthesia, impose more stringent safeguards. For instance, the surgeon must keep a ``crash cart'' stocked with required anesthetics and other resuscitative medications, and he must have staff privileges at a licensed hospital to perform the same surgery he will carry out in the office.

Though Bieber said Kah-Orukotan underwent the lowest level of liposuction, that has not been confirmed. Attorneys for Kah-Orukotan's family allege she underwent a higher level of liposuction, which would have called for more safeguards.

Bieber said Brito used one or more assistants when he performed the liposuction on Kah-Orukotan.

Brito has staff privileges at Palmetto General for occupational medicine, though he has not treated anyone at the hospital since 2003, a spokeswoman said.

Brito's physician profile on the Florida Department of Health website denotes no training in plastic surgery, though Bieber said Brito did take a three-day intensive course in cosmetic surgery procedures.

Brito has performed about two dozen liposuctions during his career, Bieber said. Brito also is listed as medical director of a Pembroke Pines facility, MG Medical & Aesthetic, which advertises cosmetic liposuction.

Weston MedSpa is not a licensed clinic or healthcare facility, but a beauty and wellness center, according to the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates medical facilities.

It is unclear whether Weston MedSpa needs to be a licensed healthcare facility in order for Brito to perform a low-level liposuction there.

Gregory Cesarano, an attorney with the Miami firm Carlton Fields, which is representing Weston MedSpa, declined to comment on the case.

``There are still ongoing investigations,'' he said.

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