Miami surgery center owner took part in unlicensed liposuction, state says
The owner of a Miami cosmetic surgery center has been accused of not only allowing unlicensed doctors to cut open patients, but participating in at least one unlicensed surgery, then trying to reopen her center in an unlicensed location.
That’s all from the state’s emergency order suspending the license of Maria Gonzalez’s Mystic Cosmetic Center, which did business at 2020 SW First St. as New World Medical & Mystic Cosmetic Surgery. That’s where arrest reports say Doral residents Manuel Lazzaro and Wilson Muñoz Suarez, neither of whom holds a Florida license, botched surgeries last fall.
“As a result of the cosmetic breast surgery by (Lazzaro), the victim suffered permanent disfigurement,” said the arrest report about what a Miami-Dade prosecutor in bond court described as the loss of a nipple.
Lazzaro and Muñoz each has pleaded not guilty to unlicensed practice.
READ MORE: Two unlicensed doctors accused of botching cosmetic surgeries in Miami
The suspension order says Gonzalez was “documented as a medical assistant” during the liposuction performed by Muñoz on Oct. 12.
“Mystic’s owner and office manager appears to have direct knowledge of the unlicensed practiced due to her personal involvement in one of the unlicensed surgeries,” the suspension order says. “The owner’s knowledge and apparent indifference towards unlicensed individuals practicing medicine at her facility indicates a blatant disregard for the laws and rules which govern office surgery registrants.”
Gonzalez’s attorney, Little Havana’s Luis Fernandez, did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did Gonzalez.
On the move...
Through the 2020 SW 1st LLC, Gonzalez also owns the building out of which Mystic operated. It’s been under renovation for months. In January, the suspension order said, Mystic put up a banner telling patients it was moving temporarily to 2397 SW 22nd St aka Coral Way.
“Mystic did not register that location with the department,” the suspension order says and, therefore, the department didn’t inspect the location. Office surgery registration licenses don’t just transfer with the business’ name.
A temporary sign says the location is now the home of Mibeauty Suites.
