Woman Dead After Getting Backroom Butt-Enhancement Injection

A Connecticut woman died in a Bronx hospital on Tuesday, Feb. 15, after she reportedly got butt enhancement injections, with the two women who dropped her off at the hospital being suspected of giving the backroom butt jabs.

Fifty-three-year-old Maxine Messam, who worked for Connecticut’s Department of Developmental Services, was brought to the Jacobi Medical Center naked from the waist down by two people who introduced themselves as “good samaritans” who found her in need of medical assistance, according to the Daily Beast.

When they inspected her body, needle marks were found as well as a foreign substance that was believed to be made of silicone. Officers believe that she has been a victim of backroom butt-enhancement injections, which doctors say are a cheap and dangerous way of lifting the buttocks, CBS New York reported.

As investigations on her case continue to move forward, Messam’s husband and children have been rendered shocked by the incident, as they believed that Messam was at work and that they had no idea she was planning on getting the injections.

A butt lift can cost more than $5,000, while the backdoor equivalent, which uses silicone injections, can cost less than $1,000. In spite of the inherent dangers with both of them, doctors have told patients not to inject themselves with silicone for cosmetic changes.

“You have to say to yourself. Who’s doing this? Are they a physician? Are they board-certified in a particular specialty? Are the facilities a recognized licensed facility? Do I have an anesthesiologist there?” Dr. Henry Spinelli, a professor of plastic surgery, said.

Butt lifts that are done by certified surgeons usually involved fat grafting, which moves fat from the stomach into the rear end. While there are also risks inherent to those cases, butt lifts are generally safer than their backdoor equivalent, according to ABC 7.

“There is no substitute for seeing a surgeon, a board-certified plastic surgeon, who is trained in these procedures and is able to deal with the complications should they unfortunately happen,” plastic surgeon Dr. Scot Glasberg said.