Lawsuit Ties Death of Woman to Face Lift Gone Wrong

Boston, Massachusetts—Donna Ames was 49-years-old when she decided to undergo a facelift surgery. She was recently divorced, depressed, and wanted a change, so the Lifestyle Lift promise to “transform your life” with plastic surgery seemed like the perfect answer. Sadly, instead of changing her life, or merely ridding her of wrinkles, her family argues that the procedure took her life.

Ames’ family filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Lifestyle Lift, a national cosmetic surgery company with headquarters based in Troy, Michigan. The company has had problems in the past, including agreeing to pay penalties in New York State for publishing fake consumer reviews on its website. Overall, Lifestyle Lift operates 40 centers nationwide with the promise of a procedure that is “less invasive” than traditional facelifts.

According to the lawsuit, just minutes after the doctor injected local anesthetic into her face on July 10 last year, Ames body began jerking violently and the oxygen in her blood dropped. However, according to the family’s attorney, Ames was not connected to any continuous-monitoring equipment and no anesthesiologist was present, so the medical staff was unaware that her oxygen had dropped so low. Forty-eight minutes later, the medical staff called 911 but by the time the ambulance reached the doctor’s office, Ames was brain dead. Nevertheless, the Lifestyle Lift website reports that the company’s doctors have treated 100,000 people worldwide since 2001 and that “the results have been “life-changing”.