Doctor Defends Himself in Death of Miami DJ Betty Pino
A South Florida plastic surgeon is defending himself from what he says are inconsistencies in the autopsy report in the death of a popular Miami DJ.
The autopsy from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner says the cause of death for Betty Pino, known as the “Queen of Radio” in South Florida, was “delayed complications of cosmetic surgical procedure.
But Dr. Constantino Mendieta, a specialist in sculpting glutes, says he performed a reconstructive procedure, not a cosmetic one, and says the report has the name of another doctor in it.
“There are some gross inconsistencies that we are going to address with them,” Mendieta said Thursday. “In the report it stated that I removed silicone implants, I did not do that. It calls me Dr. Rivera which I am not Dr. Rivera.”
Mendieta performed the surgery on Pino in June. A month later, Pino was admitted to Doctor’s Hospital in Miami with flu-like symptoms, where she was diagnosed with sepsis.
Pino slipped into coma and doctors amputated her hands and feet hoping to save her life, but she died in August.
Mendieta said the condition was not related to the surgery he performed.
“That can occur from anything in life, it can occur from a pneumonia, it can occur from a bronchitis, it can occur from a gastrointestinal virus or bacteria. It can occur from surgeries that have surgical infections,” he said. “Seeing things a month later is very rare and very unlikely.”
According to the autopsy, Pino was no stranger to cosmetic procedures. About 20 years ago, she had silicone implants in her buttocks but later switched them to saline. And four years ago, she was injected with silicone.
“These injections can be lethal, these injections are being done underground in the black market and we have no idea what’s being injected and it’s destroying and disfiguring and creating chronic medical problems with severe pain, severe disfigurement, chronic infections, people having to live on steroids and it really becomes a miserable experience,” Mendieta said.
Mendieta’s attorney said he will be discussing the autopsy report with the Medical Examiner in the near future.
