Florida’s ‘Dr. Downtown’ punished for butt-lift death, criminal activity, license lie
An Orlando doctor’s Brazilian butt-lift surgery ended with the death of a patient, an operation for which the state said he had inadequate training. He oversaw surgery centers with dangerous violations. And he lied about pleading guilty to fraud when renewing his Florida medical license.
Christopher Walker used to call himself “Dr. Downtown.” As of Dec. 6, he can’t call himself a doctor anymore —Florida’s Board of Medicine revoked Walker’s license, as an administrative law judge recommended on June 4.
Florida, where online state records say Walker had been licensed since January 2003, was his last medical license. A check of other online state records shows he’s no longer licensed in Missouri, and he let his Kansas license lapse in 2020.
Walker pleaded with the board to “apply a redemptive justice” and spare his license. He also said he would no longer do surgeries, which he declared was his “first love.”
Board member Dr. Scot Akerman replied that despite Walker’s claim of loving surgery, “he never did training in surgery. He did internal medicine in Jamaica. He did therapy in Jamaica. He came to United States and did ob/gyn and family practice. It’s nice hearing him say that, but what he’s saying is inconsistent with his history and his training.”
Walker also didn’t address lying on his Florida license renewal application about pleading guilty to two forms of fraud, travel act violation and travel act conspiracy, after a scheme to profit from women who wanted transvaginal mesh implant removals. He was sentenced to time served, two years of supervised release that ended in January and a $50,000 fine.
Walker did, however, have his own description of his fraud: “In my eagerness to help my patients suffering from tremendous pain from faulty vaginal implants, I unintentionally failed to comply with laws covering patient travel.”
The Department of Health called Walker’s crime “receiving bribes and kickbacks for referral of patients.”
While that case worked its way through courts, on Jan. 15, 2021, 38-year-old Ulesha Ortiz showed up at Orlando’s Beja Body Med Spa for a Brazilian butt lift.
READ MORE: Fraud, illegal cosmetic surgeries, a butt-lift death lawsuit: Orlando’s ‘Dr. Downtown’
Death of a patient
A search of Florida Department of Health records shows no office surgery registration for “Beja Body,” also noted by Daniel Ortiz’s malpractice lawsuit against Walker. It wouldn’t be the first time Walker worked in an Orlando place accused of operating outside its licensing box.
In 2020, Walker did cosmetic cutting at MedSurg and was its designated physician, the person in charge of compliance with state rules.
The Department of Health said Walker “rented out the facility to unregistered physicians to perform surgeries. Additionally, [Walker] began performing cosmetic surgery procedures at MedSurg, despite not being board certified in plastic surgery, having no privileges to perform cosmetic surgery at a hospital or having a comparable background, skill and training to perform cosmetic surgery.”
Ulesha Ortiz went under Walker’s knife at Beja Body on Jan. 15, 2021, for a “BBL,” a form of liposuction where fat is taken from the abdomen area and inserted in the gluteal area. She died that night.
The Department of Health said Walker “was not competent to perform abdominal liposuction and engaged in medical malpractice by repeatedly puncturing intraabodominal organs and blood vessels.”
Walker didn’t mention Ortiz by name or address anything about MedSurg in his remarks to the Board of Medicine.
“When I was being criminally charged, my freedom and my livelihood were threatened, I tragically lost a patient under my care,” Walker said. “This indescribable tragedy has left me with profound grief. In my 25 years of being a surgeon. operating over 15,000 patients and saving many lives, this was my first loss.
“Looking back now, I see where, in my distress, my judgment was flawed in my effort to survive under the weight of a criminal indictment,” he continued. “And, I accept the responsibility for my mistake and the grave error i made.”
READ MORE: Indicted Orlando doctor wanted to work in Miami. That was after the butt surgery death.
According to the Proceedings and Actions page of Walker’s online Department of Health license profile, Ortiz’s husband’s malpractice lawsuit was settled for $500,000.
READ MORE: A Florida doctor got his license renewed after a falsehood about his felonies, state says
After crime and punishment
Despite the revelation that Walker lied on his license renewal application, almost 13 months passed between the Florida Department of Health’s administrative complaint on Nov. 9, 2023, and Walker losing the license.
In the interim, Walker kept practicing as a urologist and gynecologist at Best Uro Gyn in Orlando. An Instagram post by the International Society for Stem Cell Application tagging Walker’s account said Walker was scheduled to speak at the organization’s conference in Dubai in November.
Walker’s account carried the more pedestrian “drchristopherwalkermd” name instead of the “dr.downtown” name on a previous account.
