Md. Women Discuss Visiting Fake Doctors In Pursuit Of Killer Curves
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- They're looking for that perfect figure and putting their lives at risk.
Mike Hellgren uncovers the dangers women face in their pursuit of killer curves.
A surprising number of women are turning to illicit back-alley fake doctors to get that perfect shape.
"It's pressure now from Hollywood," said one patient.
At underground parties up and down the East Coast, they're being injected with industrial-grade silicone in their buttocks for those Hollywood curves. But the unsuspecting patients never realize the danger.
"You don't even think about the side effects," a patient said.
Many are left with disfigured bodies, even organs that shut down as the silicone spreads through their bloodstream. It can even turn deadly.
"We still don't know what it is," a patient said.
The patient--a woman from Baltimore--asked WJZ to conceal her identity. She's gone through numerous surgeries to repair her damaged skin after many injections.
"It was scar tissue that was starting to build around the silicone," she said. "I almost went into a deep depression over this because I felt like I did this to myself. I do feel like I'm one of the lucky ones."
She is. A friend who was a dancer on The Block in Baltimore nearly died after silicone spread to her lungs. That led to the Feds--including the FDA and the U.S. Attorney in Maryland--to take an aggressive stance. They brought down Kimberly Smedley in a sting operation. Federal investigators say Smedley was raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars injecting women with silicone in hotel rooms in and around Maryland.
"You can't just buy silicone at your local hardware store and inject it into somebody's body," said Rod Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney.
The U.S. Attorney's Office later revealed the type of silicone that injured that dancer was only supposed to be used in furniture polish and paint.
"Some of these injectors are mixing silicone with motor oil," said Dr. Chukwuemeka Onyewu, plastic surgeon.
Many turn to Onyewu when things go wrong.
"You have to take out the fat and sometimes even the muscle and skin," Onyewu said. "I'd say in the last five to six months, I'm seeing four or five coming in every week with problems. I have seen where the entire buttock cheek skin has turned to leather--literally black, hard leather."
He revealed to WJZ how women get lured into the secret "pumping parties" in hotels.
"It's like a cult. You have to be invited to these parties," Onyewu said. "They move from hotel to hotel, city to city so sometimes they're not even easy to track down."
It's a risky business that remains lucrative as a growing number of women are desperate to have their killer looks on the cheap by those looking to make a quick buck.
"They're irresponsible. They're greedy," the patient said. "It's like attempted murder to me."
Kimberly Smedley will be sentenced in July for her role in these illegal injections. She faces a maximum of five years in prison and a quarter million dollars in fines.
