An illegal BBL surgery in Coral Gables killed a mother of 5. A lawsuit has been filed
Tennessee resident Erica Russell was a mother of five and surgery patient No. 7 for Dr. John Sampson at Coral Gables’ Seduction Cosmetic Center the night Russell died during a Brazilian butt lift surgery a few years ago. Now, a lawsuit filed Monday in Miami-Dade County court points out that Sampson shouldn’t have been cutting on anyone at the cosmetic center.
Both Sampson and Seduction Cosmetic Center, run by president Gretel Jardon at 4950 SW Eighth St., are defendants in the wrongful death civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Russell’s estate and children by Andre Holder, the father of Russell’s oldest child.
The suit, handled by Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain attorneys Michael Levine and Stephen Cain, repeats many of the charges made by the Florida Department of Health in complaints against Seduction and Sampson.
“What happened to Ms. Russell should have never happened,” Levine said. “This is assembly line medicine and that’s what killed her.”
The complaint against Seduction is pending, but the state Board of Medicine spanked Sampson twice — once for the surgical errors that led to Russell’s death and once for the problems that the ensuing inspection found at Seduction.
Sampson got fined for the issues overall because he was the “designated physician,” the person in charge of the facility being in compliance with regulations. In the paperwork Seduction and Sampson sent to the state in 2020, each said he wouldn’t be performing surgeries at Seduction.
Thus, as the state said, Sampson was not approved to perform surgeries at Seduction.
“It’s unbelievable that a surgery center could allow this to happen,” Cain said. “This doctor should never have been performing this surgery, much less seven surgeries in one day.”
Allegations of misconduct by Seduction and Sampson
The following allegations from the lawsuit were in previous Florida Department of Health complaints unless otherwise noted.
▪ “Despite not being approved to perform surgery at (Seduction), Seduction continued to market Sampson as a surgeon performing surgery at its facility and utilizing him for surgery at its facility.”
In fact, Sampson remained on Seduction’s website as a surgeon until last month. None of the state complaints discussed Seduction’s advertising of Sampson as a board certified surgeon (in the wake of Russell’s death, Sampson’s American Board of Plastic Surgery certification has been suspended since 2022.).
▪ During pre-surgery on June 15, 2021, Seduction put paperwork in front of Russell stating that Sampson had plastic and cosmetic privileges at Coral Gables Hospital, 3100 Douglas Rd... Sampson did not have privileges at Coral Gables Hospital.”
▪ Sampson started his first surgery on June 16, 2021 at 6:32 a.m. Six patients and 14 hours later, Russell went under his knife for a Brazilian butt lift at 8:32 p.m.
▪ During surgery, Sampson wielded the cannula, a tube used for sucking fat from the abdomen and back, so maladroitly, he punctured Russell’s intestines, bladder, liver and abdominal wall.
He also injected fat under Russell’s gluteal muscles and “deep gluteal planes.” The state complaints say this violates the “minimum standard of care” in Florida.
▪ “At approximately 10:50 p.m... more than 16 hours after Sampson began performing surgeries at Seduction, Russell experienced a cardiac arrest and died.”
The cause of Russell’s death was determined to be pulmonary fat emboli and bleeding went into the cavity that holds the abdominal and pelvic organs. She was 33.
Neither an email to attorneys Seduction has used on recent federal and county litigation nor an email, text or phone message to Jardon have been returned to the Herald.
