Liposuction violations at a Florida plastic surgery center, state says
The doctor in charge of making sure a Bradenton plastic surgery center complies with Florida laws and rules has been accused of violating those rules during liposuctions, a breast reduction and breast lift.
The doctor, Dr. Melinda Lacerna Kimbrell, isn’t just the designated physician at LA Plastic Surgery & Skin Plasma Center, 5301 Fourth Ave. Circle East. Lacerna Kimbrell is the owner, president, secretary, treasurer and director at LA Plastic Surgery, according to state corporate and Florida Department of Health records.
The accuser is the Florida Department of Health via an administrative complaint filed in October against LA Plastic Surgery’s office surgery registration license. Administrative complaints start the discipline process. Because this is the first state complaint against LA Plastic Surgery and the complaint doesn’t mention death or severe injury, if the center isn’t exonerated, it likely would face a fine or suspension of 15 days to a month.
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Removing too much fat?
The compliant comes from what the Department of Health called “several deficiencies” found during an Aug. 19, 2024, routine inspection of LA Plastic Surgery.
Florida administrative code limits the liposuction removal of “supernatant fat,” sometimes referred to as “pure” or “purified” fat, to 4,000 cubic centimeters in an office setting. But the inspection found that Lacerna Kimbrell exceeded that amount during a liposuction 360 (abdomen, love handles, back) and breast reduction on May 13, 2024.
Also, the complaint said, on March 21, 2024, Lacerna Kimbrell removed more than 1000cc of supernatant fat during a “liposuction of the abdomen, flank, back and axilla in combination with a (breast lift) with breast implant and fat grafting to the breast...”
That liposuction location counted as “remote” from the breast lift location and Florida administrative code says “major liposuction in excess of 1000cc supernatant fat may not be performed in a remote location from any other procedure.”
LA Plastic Surgery did not return a phone call and Lacerna Kimbrell did not respond to an email from the Herald seeking comment on the case.
Lacerna Kimbrell and personal liability
Lacerna Kimbrell’s profile doesn’t show the companion complaint commonly filed against the designated physician after a complaint is filed against the surgery center. Since she gained her Florida license on April 5, 2011, Lacerna Kimbrell has been clean on official discipline, but the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation says her personal liability insurance has paid three patients since the start of 2015:
- Jan. 1, 2015: A woman tested positive for a gene linked to breast cancer. Lacerna Kimbrell performed mastectomies and breast reconstruction with silicone implants and a breast sling. “The patient alleged failure to recognize compromised blood supply in reconstruction of the breasts,” and death of breast skin because the implants were too large. That dead tissue had to be removed as well as the implants. The patient was paid $250,000.
- Feb. 13, 2017: A 38-year-old woman went under Lacerna Kimbrell’s knife for a tummy tuck and breast augmentation. The woman died “allegedly due to complications related to post-operative pain medication” and blamed Lacerna Kimbrell for errors in the prescribing and monitoring of that medication. Lacerna Kimbrell’s insurance company paid $225,000.
- Aug. 22, 2019: After a “Mommy Makeover” — tummy tuck with liposuction — a patient “noted a black, discolored area around the surgical site ... the patient was instructed to continue using the cream prescribed” by Lacerna Kimbrell. The patient accused Lacerna Kimbrell of failing to prescribe a proper prescription topical antibiotic “when aware of a known allergy.” The pain and the ensuing scarring cost the insurance company $65,000.
Lacerna Kimbrell is board certified with the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Though her Department of Health profile says she’s also board certified with the American Board of Surgery, an online check with that organization says that certification expired in Dec. 31, 2015.
