Colorado plastic surgeon Dr Geoffrey Kim turned himself in this week after Colorado authorities charged him with first-degree aggravated assault and criminally negligent homicide – both felonies – in the death of patient Emmalyn Nguyen, 18.
Dr Kim performed breast augmentation surgery on the teenager at Colorado Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery in August 2019, but she went into cardiac arrest after being administered anesthesia. She fell into a coma and died 14 months later.
The nurse anesthetist at the practice, about 13 miles southeast of downtown Denver, is also facing a manslaughter charge, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday – but Rex Meeker had not yet been taken into custody as of Thursday.
In a statement released this week through their lawyer, the Nguyen family said: “We are glad we’re finally getting justice for Emmalyn, even though it will never bring our daughter back.
“At least this will help others from getting hurt or from ruining other families’ lives.
“We still haven’t been able to get closure from this, and hopefully the criminal charges will help bring out the full truth and help us accomplish justice for Emmalyn.”
Prior to the criminal charges, Dr Kim had already reached an agreement with state regulators admitting to “unprofessional conduct,” the local CBS station reported last year – he was given three years of probation but allowed to practice medicine with certain restrictions.
Mr Meeker voluntarily agreed to discontinue administering anesthesia but was allowed to continue practicing nursing, CBS reported.
Kari Hershey, an attorney for the surgeon, told CBS last year: “Although this was a tragic anesthesia-related complication, the practice and Dr Kim agreed to a resolution of the claims brought by Ms Nguyen’s parents in the hope that it would bring them some sense of closure.”
