NEWARK
– A woman who offered cosmetic procedures,
including derriere augmentation and facial
wrinkle removal to the public, has been
arrested and charged with unlicensed practice
of medicine, following an undercover investigation
by the Division of Consumer Affairs’
Enforcement Bureau and the South Plainfield
Police Department.
Police
arrested Yamile Mattos, 47, at her Park
Avenue home today after undercover investigators
came to the residence’s garage that
had been converted into an office. Mattos
also was charged with possession with intent
to distribute a prescription drug and possession
of drug paraphernalia.
Mattos
allegedly offered to provide Botox injections
to remove wrinkles, in addition to injections
to augment the derriere of a female undercover
investigator.
“Medical
procedures performed by unlicensed individuals
put the public at unnecessary risk,”
Attorney General Paula T. Dow said. “We
know of one case where the patient died
following cosmetic surgery performed by
someone other than a licensed physician.”
A
Marlboro woman in November 2007 was found
dead inside a Rahway residence where she
apparently had undergone cosmetic surgery
by an unlicensed person. Six women in northern
New Jersey were hospitalized last year after
receiving injections for derriere augmentation
given to them in hotel rooms. Infections
resulted following injections of unknown
substances.
“The
health risks are very real, and I want to
commend the South Plainfield Police Department
for working with us,” said Thomas
R. Calcagni, Acting Director of the State
Division of Consumer Affairs. “An
unlicensed person, injecting who knows what
into your body, is something we will not
tolerate.”
Detective
Anthony Pacillo lead the investigation,
assisted by Sgt. Dan Noonan and investigators
from Consumer Affairs’ Enforcement
Bureau.
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