Jennifer Arias, a mother from New York, arrived at New Life Plastic Surgery at 8400 SW 8th Street on the morning of Aug. 13 for liposuction and a Brazilian Butt Lift, known as a BBL. Hours later, a caller dialed emergency dispatchers.

"Patient underwent a procedure. She was desaturating at the end of the procedure... She's in recovery right now. She's desaturating. We need support from the rescue," the caller told a Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office dispatcher, according to the recording obtained by the family's attorney, Christopher Russomanno.

When the dispatcher asked whether the address was a house, apartment or business, the caller replied: "It's a building. It's New Life Plastic Surgery."

Desaturation refers to falling oxygen levels, a sign of respiratory distress. Russomanno said the patient had to be re-intubated before paramedics arrived. Arias was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where her family says doctors could not save her.

"I couldn't believe it. That's my sister. That's my best friend," her sister, Erika Arias, said previously.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner ruled that Arias died from fat embolisms in both lungs resulting from the surgeries and classified the death as an accident. Russomanno described the finding as an immediate pulmonary embolism in both lungs following the BBL.

"This is a very serious, deadly issue that we see and deal with a lot in the plastic surgery arena in South Florida," he said.

When fat is injected too deeply into the gluteal muscle, it can enter the bloodstream and cause a patient to stop breathing. Florida law now requires doctors to use ultrasound guidance during BBL procedures to help keep fat out of the muscle. But Arias' autopsy found fat globules in the muscle, with surgical tracks reaching deep veins and the sciatic nerve, according to the report. Russomanno said he has requested the clinic's ultrasound images but has not received them.

Arias is at least the sixth patient known to have died following cosmetic procedures at New Life Plastic Surgery since 2018, according to a review of civil lawsuits and state and county records. Among them was Naimy Sucetz, who was operated on by the same surgeon as Arias, Dr. Julio Clavijo-Alvarez.

Rolando Diaz, an attorney for the doctor, said in a statement that the patient's death was devastating and that "the law and proper standards of care were followed." He added that "all surgeries have risks and no one can predict when those risks are realized."

New Life Plastic Surgery has not responded to requests for comment. In court filings involving two earlier patient deaths, the clinic's attorneys denied responsibility and argued in part that the physicians involved were independent contractors rather than clinic employees.

The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office is investigating Arias' death. Russomanno said his own inquiry is in its early stages and will focus on what went wrong and whether the death could have been prevented. The family has also filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Health.