LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas woman is warning others, sharing she ended up with a medical problem after getting what she thought was a cosmetic procedure.
Justine Hill says she worked hard at getting back in shape after she gave birth four years ago.
“I just, like, I was so excited that I lost so much weight because I lost almost, like, 120 pounds,” she told the I-Team.
But Hill felt like there was one stubborn section.
“So, I wanted to restore some volume back into my buttocks area,” she said. “…I had a lot of volume loss. So, it was, it almost looked like cellulite, but it was like very big caverns of skin, like a volume missing. So, it was like it didn’t have any shape, no matter how I worked out.”
Hill tells us she went to a woman, who she believed was an esthetician, for injections in her backside.
“It started getting very painful,” she shared.
She says the pain got worse, which resulted in an infection.
When Hill reached out to that woman again to find out more about what she injected into her body, the response: macrolane.
If you look up information about the filler, you’ll find a horror story from abroad, after it was reportedly injected into breasts. You’ll also discover concerns about whether it could interfere with cancer screenings.
“If anybody is using macrolane here, it is not with the blessing of the FDA,” said Dr. Jeffrey Roth, a plastic surgeon. “And it would also be really interesting on how they would get their hands on it because they’re not supposed to sell it here in the United States.”
He adds, “The problem that we plastic surgeons have, is people go to folks that aren’t plastic surgeons, aren’t even doctors, and we’ve had a couple of deaths even here in town.”
Roth, who chairs a committee at the Nevada State Medical Association, also points to state law, which is as follows:
“A person shall not inject dermal or soft tissue fillers, unless the person is a physician or physician assistant, dentist, registered nurse or podiatrist.”
The surgeon explained, “Okay, no one else. The other thing is, is where can you inject? Right? So, there is also a statute involved because people were getting injected at the pools on the Strip, etc., etc. So, it has to be in a medical facility or doctor’s office.”
Roth tells the I-Team enforcement needs to be stronger. He says he has treated patients who are trying to fix problems like Hill’s.
“I had a long talk with myself, and I said, ‘We’re going to fix what I messed up. We’re going to fix the karma that I caused, but everything else, I need to come up with a natural way to do this,'” Hill shared.
She works in the cosmetic industry. She says she started to feel a need to look perfect, but now:
“It’s a beautiful thing to get old and older, you know, to have scars to, you know, my C-section scars, that my children came out of me, you know,” Hill said. “Like, it’s … it’s like each stretch mark, and each thing is like, it’s a story.”
She is concerned she may have scarring from those bad injections, but she says lesson learned.
“Do your due diligence and just love yourself,” Hill encouraged.
Agencies like the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, the medical board and law enforcement investigate incidents involving illegal substances, such as macrolane, injectables given by someone not permitted to do so or at place not allowed by Nevada state law. These investigations are often complaint-based.