Family files wrongful death lawsuit after mother of 5 dies during cosmetic surgery

Kori Johnson
·3 min read
20

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Davidson County family filed a wrongful death lawsuit after routine cosmetic surgery went horribly wrong.

Five children are left without a mother in a case where attorneys said her doctor was not properly licensed.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Nashville resident Erica Russell this week alleges the 33-year-old died due to the actions of a doctor during a routine Brazilian Butt Lift procedure, known as a BBL. The lawsuit was also filed against the Seduction Cosmetic Center after Russell flew from Nashville to Miami for the surgery at the facility.

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“There are five young people without their mom that should not be in that situation,” said Michael Levine, one of the attorneys of Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain, P.A., representing Russell’s family in the lawsuit.

(Courtesy: Carol Goraczko via the Russell family)
(Courtesy: Carol Goraczko via the Russell family)

The suit alleges Dr. John Sampson repeatedly punctured Russell’s abdominal wall and internal organs during a 2021 cosmetic surgery and injected fat into the wrong areas, which allowed fat deposits to get into her bloodstream.

“This surgery involves suctioning fat from one area of the body and injecting it into another, and you’re using a canula to do that, and Dr. Sampson was so reckless in the way he did this surgery that he apparently lost either control or awareness of where the canula was and he ends up perforating Ms. Russell’s liver and abdomen,” Levine told News 2.

Attorneys for the case said Sampson was not properly licensed to work at the Seduction Cosmetic Center in Miami and his actions resulted in a significant bleed and a pulmonary fat embolism that triggered fatal cardiac arrest. Sampson has since been banned from performing these types of surgeries.

(Courtesy: Carol Goraczko via the Russell family)
(Courtesy: Carol Goraczko via the Russell family)

“Ultimately, the state of Florida was conducting an investigation. The Department of Health has long been involved in this case, and in our opinion, the consequences from that investigation have been quite light,” said Levine. “This is really what troubles me about this case — Dr. Sampson began surgery at 6:30 in the morning and he started Erica Russell’s surgery at 8:30 at night; 14 hours later and shortly before 11 p.m. is when she suffers an arrest, and that’s about 16 hours into his workday and apparently, Ms. Russell was his seventh patient of the day.”

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Cosmetic surgery is rising in popularity. Data from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons shows the number of BBL procedures totaled $28,638 in 2022.

If you’re interested in cosmetic surgery, health officials with the society listed questions you can ask doctors to help you better determine who you want to do your procedure, including:

  • Are you a board-certified plastic surgeon?

  • How often have you performed this procedure?

  • What are the risks involved?

  • How have you handled complications with procedures in the past?

As the lawsuit involving Sampson moves forward, attorneys for Russell’s family said they are working to bring justice for her

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“What we’re trying to accomplish for her children is to hold these folks accountable and make them pay for what they did,” said Levine.

News 2 also reached out to Seduction Cosmetic Center in Miami for comment on the lawsuit, but did not hear back at the time of this publication.

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