LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (ANF/Gray News ) – The family of a Georgia woman who died after undergoing cosmetic surgery is still seeking justice. While they were awarded $52 million in damages in a medical malpractice case, they are unlikely to see the vast majority of that verdict.
Doris Jordan was a nurse, an Army veteran, and a mother of three. She died in December 2019 after undergoing liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift at Sei Bello, a plastic surgery clinic in Lawrenceville.
Last month, Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Jon W. Setzer awarded her family $16 million in damages for her pain and suffering and $36 million for her wrongful death.
“I want my wife back,” James Jordan, Doris’ husband, said in an interview with Atlanta News First on Friday. “Money doesn’t make up for what he did for me and our family.”
Doris Jordan died of brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen, according to court testimony. Her family’s attorney, Moses Kim, says the clinic ran out of anesthesia during the procedure and in the minutes after the operation, things got worse.
“Miss Jordan was not breathing and when they went to see if she was getting oxygen from the tubes in her nose, they crossed the line and realized that the end of the plastic tube was not connected to any oxygen because they didn’t have oxygen in the facility,” Kim said Friday.
Court documents show the clinic didn’t call 911 until 19 minutes after they realized Doris Jordan had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. He died the next day.
“The malpractice that occurred began before the surgery began,” Kim said. “This was a disaster waiting to happen.”
The clinic was uninsured at the time of the procedure, meaning the Jordan family is unlikely to recover much—if any—of the judgment, according to Kim.
“We don’t get a dollar,” James Jordan said. “We’ve lost her and we’re not getting the answers we’re looking for.”
James Jordan now lives in Florida with his children and says the loss of his wife continues to shape their lives. He hopes that sharing his family’s story will motivate others to take cosmetic surgery decisions seriously.
“I just hope people understand this and take it seriously because these pop-up clinics are not all they seem on the surface,” he said.
Kim says the case highlights the risks patients face when clinics operate without proper oversight or insurance, particularly in the fast-growing cosmetic surgery industry.
“Consumers really have to do their own homework to make sure these features are high-quality features,” he said.
State records show that Sey Bello dissolved within a year of Doris Jordan’s death and was officially dissolved by the state in October 2020 for failure to register and pay required fees.
The clinic’s owner, John Holmes, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Records obtained by Atlanta News First show that Holmes previously operated another business in the same Lawrenceville complex called “Butts Gone Wild.”
The doctor involved in the procedure, Dr. Kanye Willis, reached a separate settlement with the Jordan family, according to the family’s attorney. Willis declined to comment when contacted.
State licensing records show that one “Kanye Willis” remains board certified in Georgia. The nurse involved in the case had a license that expired in 2023, according to state records.
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