Hillary Brown death sparks investigation at Restore Plastic Surgery. What we know

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a 33-year-old woman from Gulf Breeze, Hillary Ellington Brown, who went into cardiac arrest during an after-hours plastic surgery procedure performed by her husband, Ben Brown.

Ben Brown, 40, is a board-certified plastic surgeon who owns Restore Plastic Surgery in Gulf Breeze. He was performing multiple procedures on his wife Nov. 21 when Hillary went into cardiac arrest at his office. Ben called 911 and performed CPR, but he wasn't able to keep Hillary's brain oxygenated.

Hillary was taken to the hospital, where she was in a coma with severe brain swelling for a week. She never recovered and on Nov. 28, Hillary was removed from life support and her organs were donated.

Here's what we know about Hillary Ellington Brown's death.

Ben Brown performed plastic surgery procedures at Restore Plastic Surgery that ended in Hillary Brown's death

According to Marty Ellington, Ben Brown told them he had been performing several procedures on Hillary in his office late on the afternoon of Nov. 21 when she suddenly went into cardiac arrest.

In a social media post from Nov. 24, Brown wrote about his wife's coma.

"We need prayers for a miracle. Hillary had a cardiac arrest on Tuesday afternoon," Brown wrote. "We called 911 and started CPR. Her heart came back but her brain is not doing well. She has been in a coma since she went unconscious on Tuesday. Hillary Ellington Brown you are my soulmate, my world, my everything. Please come back. Please!"

The post was accompanied by a praying hands emoji and dozens of pictures of Hillary Brown, some with her husband, others with her children. In one picture of Hillary with her dog, Brown drew a heart around his wife's face with an arrow pointing to one of her breasts.

According to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office incident report, Brown called 9-1-1 from his Restore Plastic Surgery office in the Tiger Point area of Gulf Breeze around 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 21.

Hillary Brown’s dad opens up: Dr. Ben Brown performed multiple procedures on wife before her heart stopped

The call notes stated there was a female in cardiac arrest: "DR POSS OVER MEDICATED PATIENT."

"I interviewed the medical technician (name redacted) who advised the patient is Hillary E. Rogers Brown, who is currently Dr. Brown's spouse," a deputy wrote. "Hillary Brown was in the process of several surgical procedures when she experienced several seizures and then went into cardiac arrest."

The Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit and the District One Medical Examiner are now investigating Hillary's death. The sheriff's office released a statement about the case Tuesday.

"In accordance with our policies and procedures, SRSO investigators frequently conduct death investigations when the death was unexpected or the death occurs under unusual circumstances," the statement read. "The cause and manner of death is pending the receipt of the autopsy protocol from the District One Medical Examiner's Office. The autopsy protocol typically takes several months as it usually is dependent on extensive laboratory and toxicology tests as well as the information gathered by our Major Crimes detectives concerning the circumstances of the death."

Hillary Brown's parents are searching for answers

Ellington has a lot of questions about his daughter's death, including what drugs she was given before the procedure.

"He said that the medicine they usually use, they were out of, so he used something different," Ellington said.

He also wants to know why there wasn't a crash cart, which holds life-saving equipment like oxygen and defibrillators at the office, along with properly trained medical staff who could have helped.

"With the amount of swelling in her brain that means her brain suffered from lack of oxygen for quite some time," Ellington said. "That's telling me that when you got, not an EMT, not a nurse, not even a doctor, but a surgeon who wasn't skilled enough in CPR that he could keep her oxygenated and keep oxygen to her brain until the EMT can get there. That just floors me that he falls out and they can't keep her, keep adequate oxygen in her because had that simple task (of giving her oxygen) been done, she'd still be with us."

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Who is Ben Brown?

Ben Brown is a board-certified plastic surgeon who owns Restore Plastic Surgery in Gulf Breeze. Ben Brown moved to Pensacola in 2015, where he reportedly worked as a plastic surgeon at Gulf Coast Plastic Surgery before opening his own practice in 2017.

According to his social media, Ben has two children from a prior marriage that ended in 2021, just months before he and Hillary began dating.

Who is Dr. Ben Brown? Who is Dr. Ben Brown, the Gulf Breeze doctor who performed fatal surgery on Hillary Brown?

Brown has attended three universities, according to his Facebook profile. He attended the University of Minnesota between 2001-2003 but did not receive a degree. Brown attended Tulane University between 2003 and 2005, receiving a Bachelor's Degree. He then attended medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center between 2005 and 2009, earning his medical degree.

Brown specialized in plastic surgery during his residency at Georgetown University between 2009 and 2015, according to his practitioner profile on the Florida Department of Health website.

On his LinkedIn profile, Ben Brown said he worked as a resident physician in plastic and reconstructive surgery at MedStar Health between 2009 and 2015.

Who was Hillary Ellington Brown?

Hillary Ellington Brown was born in Mobile, Alabama, on Sept. 2, 1990. Her parents described her as being "full of fire and energy" since she was a girl.

She attended Oxford High School and graduated from North Delta in Batesville, Mississippi, where she pursued a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, according to her obituary.

She was also the mom to three young children, ages 4 to 8, from a previous marriage. Her parents and friends described her as a loving and devoted mother.

Her obituary said she was a "loving, talented, caring and giving person." She worked at Restore Plastic Surgery in Gulf Breeze with her husband, Ben, and their clients praised her kind and cheerful nature.

Ben and Hillary Brown had a 'volatile' relationship

Ben and Hillary Brown began dating in July 2021, according to his social media, just months after his former wife filed for divorce. The two married in July 2022.

Ellington said Hillary and Brown had a "volatile" relationship that sometimes blew hot then cold, but for the most part, Hillary enjoyed their life together, especially having her husband regularly perform plastic surgery procedures on her face and body.

In March, SRSO responded to a call at the couple's waterfront home in Tiger Point Village in "reference to a suicide." According to the report, Brown told dispatch his wife was "barely conscious and still unresponsive due to self-medication with an unknown amount of Valium."

Hillary Brown death investigation: Death of Gulf Breeze doctor’s wife following after-hours surgery leads to investigation

The deputy reported that Hillary admitted to taking Valium but denied wanting to hurt herself, saying she wanted her husband to know "she was serious."

Hillary was evaluated by EMS and released without treatment, but the officer determined Hillary met the criteria for Baker Act and she was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Ellington and Hillary's friends say she was a loving, devoted mother who didn't want to put her children through another divorce, but she was not one to "back down from a challenge" even when they said she sometimes struggled with the "intense" relationship she had with Brown.

Ben Brown and Restore Plastic Surgery have a history of allegations

Brown has faced a number of complaints and allegations of botched procedures. There is an ongoing medical malpractice lawsuit pending against him for negligence. The plaintiff alleged she suffered a serious infection and debilitating complications after Brown used "foreign materials" during a breast reconstruction surgery without her consent.

Numerous other women have come forward to the News Journal with similar complaints, both on and off the record. According to Brown's practitioner profile on the Florida Department of Health's website, his license is clear and active and says he "has not had any final disciplinary action taken against him within the last 10 years by a licensing agency."

The News Journal reached out to Brown and the Florida Department of Health for comment, but messages have not been returned.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Hillary Brown death at Restore Plastic Surgery: What we know so far