I'm the doctor who fixes patients left with gaping wounds and blackened skin after botched silicone injections... I've never seen anything so horrific
Dr J Timothy Katzen was used to handling skin tightening surgeries and butt lifts.Working out of his clinic in Beverly Hills, the plastic surgeon tended to see patients who wanted rejuvenation or a youthful touch-up.But then, a patient arrived with a silicone injection in the buttocks, a non-FDA approved procedure plastic surgeons have been told to avoid for due to the risk of lifelong pain and disfiguring injuries, and, in serious cases, death.The next week, another patient arrived with the same issue, then another, before a tidal wave started to come through Dr Katzen's door, he told the Daily Mail.Many admitted they had received the injections, not from a plastic surgeon, but in their homes or local salons from a traveling injector who offered discount shots to inflate their buttocks.Dr Katzen told the Daily Mail that, according to multiple patients, it was by Libby Adame, 55, also known as the 'butt lady'.She was found guilty by a jury last month of second-degree murder and practicing medicine without a license after her patient Hollywood actress Cindyana Santangelo died in March following silicone injections into her buttocks. She was sentenced last Wednesday to 15 years to life in prison. The judge said she must serve a minimum of 15 years before she is eligible for parole. Libby Adame, 55, pictured above, has been found guilty of second-degree murder after an actress died following a round of silicone injections into her buttocks
Adame, who is not a doctor and holds no medical degree, and her daughter who worked with her, Alicia Galaz, 26, have been accused by multiple patients of causing disfiguring injuries.Dr Katzen told Daily Mail he has treated 30 to 100 patients who say they were injected by the pair, with some having silicone leaking so thickly from their buttocks that it stuck to the operating table beneath them.In other cases, according to Dr Katzen, patients have also been left with palm-sized areas of dead skin on their buttocks because of the injections and with gaping wounds that left behind a permanent scar.Patients may opt for silicone injections into the buttocks to achieve a fuller or rounder butt at a lower price. A Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), the standard procedure for this enhancement, is normally around $8,000, and requires surgery and two to four weeks to recover, whereas a silicone injection could cost only several hundred dollars and be completed at home.In some cases, patients die from silicone injections after the silicone enters the bloodstream and travels to the heart or lungs, where it causes a blockage that can lead to a fatal complication such as heart failure.This year's case is the second time Adame has been brought before a jury after one of her patients died following silicone injections.In another case from last year, she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter over the 2019 death of 26-year-old Karissa Rajpaul, who also died after receiving a silicone injection into her buttocks.Her daughter Galaz, who was also present for the procedure, was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Adame was sentenced to four years and four months in prison for the death while her daughter was sentenced to three years and eight months.After the trial, however, both were released for already serving their sentences since their 2021 arrests. Cindyana Santangelo, pictured above in 2011, died at her Malibu home in March this year following the injections. Her husband said she was 'killed in the prime of her life'During the 2024 trial over the death of Rajpaul, prosecutors said there was security camera footage of Adame fleeing a salon in South Gate, California, in 2018 as paramedics rushed in the front door to treat a woman who subsequently died from the injections. No charges were filed in the 2018 death.Dr Katzen said he was not aware of charges being filed in any other reported cases of disfigurement or injuries due to the injections.Dr Katzen says these cases and reports are likely only scratching the surface of the number of people that have been harmed by Adame and other silicone injectors.Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said he has consulted with at least 3,000 people who had silicone injections into their bodies from multiple injectors.And said he is aware of many injectors besides Adame and her daughter operating in the US and globally.Dr Katzen said he has dealt with patients who have had silicone injected into themselves, as well as aquarium sealant and even cement all in pursuit of a more voluminous appearance.The substances had been injected into areas including the buttocks, breasts, chest, biceps and even the penis. Adame has denied that she is guilty and said that she will appeal the verdictHe raised the alarm over the lack of regulation of silicone use, saying that there were major risks because anyone could buy silicone from a local hardware or home depot store and inject themselves.'He is concerned because this is such a gray area,' said his assistant, Ariel Ajimura. Dr Timothy Katzen, a plastic surgeon, and shown above, who said he had treated around 100 patients who say they were injected by Adame'The FDA says people should not inject a 'large volume' of silicone [for body contouring or enhancement processes], but what is a large volume? That's why people are getting away with so much.'Silicone is available in home depot and hardware stores because it is often used for a range of home repairs, including sealing windows and doors and fixing leaks in bathrooms and kitchens. For patients of Adame, Dr Katzen said that, in some cases, injections were botched, with patients left with silicone leaking from their buttocks or infections that had caused skin to turn black.But in other cases, patients had come forward to have the silicone removed after it started to cause them pain, often due to scar tissue building up around it, and other symptoms such as joint pain, bumps on the skin and hardened skin.It is not clear what causes the complication, but doctors say it is often linked to an immune response to the silicone, causing inflammation and immune cells to attack other areas in the body.The Daily Mail contacted Adame before the publication of this article, but did not receive a response. Daily Mail also contacted her attorney to get a response from Galaz, but also did not receive a response.Adame's lawyers said in court after she was found guilty that they were going to appeal her conviction. In 2024, Adame was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter after Karissa Rajpaul, 26, died after receiving silicone injections into her buttocksAlthough now found guilty in court, Adame denied she had caused the death of Santangelo, saying she had only attended the house for a 'consultation' and another person was present who carried out the injections. No details or evidence has been offered that there was another person or any information on who this person might be. Plastic surgeons were asked to stop injecting silicone into patients in 1992 by the FDA amid safety concerns.Silicone is still used in breast implants, but in these cases the silicone is held together within an implant that is placed into the body during an operation, and the silicone is not injected directly into the breasts.But the injections are unregulated, and, unlike fillers, do not dissolve.After the injection, the silicone can leak out of the body or trigger a life-threatening infection such as sepsis.Over time, scar tissue can also form around the silicone, causing pain to the patient upon contact with the area. The silicone may also trigger an autoimmune condition, where the immune system misfires and starts to attack other organs.Dr Katzen said that patients who get the injections tend to suffer from complications within five years.For treatment, the top option is surgery to remove as much of the silicone as possible.It is uncommon for people in the US to get silicone injections, although people may obtain them on the black market.
