The homicide unit of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation into the death of Jennifer Arias, a 29-year-old young mother who passed away in August after undergoing liposuction and a buttock lift at the New Life Plastic Surgery clinic in Miami, according to an investigation by Telemundo 51 Investiga published on Thursday.
Jennifer had traveled from New York on August 13 to undergo surgery at that center located in southwest Miami. Hours after entering the operating room, she was urgently transferred to HCA Florida Kendall hospital, where she lost her life.
The Miami-Dade County medical examiner determined that the cause of death was a fat embolism in both lungs as a result of the procedures, and classified the death as accidental.
Behind was her daughter Jenella, who is seven years old. "My baby is only 7 years old. She is left without her mother," lamented Mónica Arias, Jennifer's mother, in statements to Telemundo 51 Investiga.
The family claims that the surgeon in charge of the operation was Julio Clavijo-Álvarez, a doctor who mainly works at New Life and promotes his work on YouTube.
Mónica Arias does not hide her outrage: "How is this doctor still performing these surgeries?" she questioned, adding, "I want justice for my daughter."
This attribution comes exclusively from the family narrative and has not been legally confirmed. Telemundo 51 Investig reached out to the surgeon, the clinic, and their attorneys, but none responded before the report was finalized.
It is not the only deceased: Other associated cases
According to the research by Telemundo 51, after reviewing civil lawsuits and state and county documents, Jennifer would be at least the sixth patient to have died following a surgery at New Life since 2018.
Among the previous cases is Naimy Sucetz, 41 years old, who died in 2022 from a blood clot in her lungs following liposuction and abdominoplasty at that same clinic; her surgeon is also said to have been Clavijo-Álvarez, according to that outlet.
In 2018, a 30-year-old Cuban resident of Naples, Florida, Adianet Galbán González, died at the Kendall Regional Medical Center following a fat transfer to the buttocks performed at New Life.
The administrative history of Clavijo-Álvarez includes, according to the Florida Department of Health, five complaints since 2022.
In 2024, the Florida Medical Board reprimanded him and forced him to pay a $15,000 fine plus $11,085 in case costs to resolve three of those complaints, related to improper prescriptions, safety violations in an outpatient center, and improperly placed drainage during a BBL.
As part of the agreement, he neither admitted nor denied the accusations. Since that year, the American Board of Plastic Surgery has listed him with a status of "Certified: On Probation."
The fifth complaint, reported by the Miami Herald, alleges that the surgeon did not properly document a hemorrhage that occurred during a liposuction and BBL performed on a 35-year-old patient in March 2025, who required a blood transfusion.
Clavijo-Álvarez did not respond to that outlet. His license (ME146248) remains active and is set to expire in January 2028.
Regarding the clinic, New Life has accumulated over a dozen lawsuits for alleged medical malpractice over six years.
In judicial documents related to two deaths, the center denied responsibility, arguing that the doctors were operating as independent contractors.
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