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A California plastic surgeon appeared in court on Monday in connection to the death of a 2018 patient. According to FOX 5 KSWB-TV, the doctor was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter. However, he is now being charged with murder.
According to the outlet, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has brought an “amended criminal complaint” against Dr. Carlos Chacon, 48.
The complaint alleges that the surgeon was performing breast augmentation on Megan Espinoza, 36, in December 2018. During the procedure, Espinoza went reportedly went into cardiac arrest. According to NBC 7 San Diego, Dr. Chacon “refused to let his employees call 911.” The surgeon did consult with two other doctors about Espinoza’s condition. However, he failed to explain to them “how bad” it was.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Dr. Chacon left Espinoza’s operating room to check on four other patients.
Marc Carlos, Dr. Chacon’s defense attorney, believes the new murder charge against his client “requires more” evidence than just that.
“The new evidence is that he walked into a different room and checked on patients. That’s new evidence? It’s a murder charge, not malpractice charges. It requires more than that.”
The victim’s husband, Mo Espinoza, believes the new charge against the doctor brings justice for his late wife, as per NBC 7 San Diego. He revealed she was a kindergarten teacher and “did a lot of good in this world.”
Espinoza, now a single father of two boys, added that Chacon’s actions on the day of his wife’s surgery showed his “lack of compassion.”
“It just shows you the lack of compassion he had for a life, my wife, my wife. It’s just us three now, so we have to live with the reality that we don’t have a mother, but we cherish those memories and pictures and probably every other week we’ll go look at some videos together and remember how many lives she touched.”
Furthermore, Espinoza shared that he hopes laws will be changed to give patients a more transparent picture of a surgeon’s credentials and background before surgery. The father hopes this case can spare other families from the same fate.
According to 10News, Dr. Carlos Chacon performed a breast augmentation on Megan Espinoza in December 2018. The procedure occurred at Chacon’s Divino Plastic Surgery clinic in Bonita, California.
During the surgery, Espinoza’s heart stopped beating. Then, Dr. Chacon reportedly left Espinoza “suffocating” while he “saw four other patients to sell more services and check on others.”
San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Gina Darvas also alleges that Chacon used an untrained nurse to administer anesthesia to Espinoza. According to the outlet, the nurse was previously charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the woman’s death.
The district attorney also revealed that Espinoza’s husband called the facility to check up on his wife during the procedure. According to Darvas, Chacon instructed his staff to lie about Espinoza’s condition.
Chacon eventually called 911 “three hours after Espezona had lost consciousness.”
According to 10News, Dr. Chacon posted his $500,000 bail on Monday. He reportedly will not be able to practice surgery at his office. However, he can still perform surgeries at accredited facilities like hospitals. Furthermore, the surgeon must notify any prospective surgery patients that he is facing a murder charge.
According to NBC 7 San Diego, Chacon will face a preliminary hearing in June. Then, the California Medical Board will decide whether or not to revoke his license.
