The Dolls Plastic Surgery lawsuit record is narrower than its regulatory record: the Aventura clinic has appeared in Miami-Dade court mainly as a plaintiff chasing a former patient for unpaid fees, while the more serious action against it came from the Florida Department of Health, which in late 2023 filed an administrative complaint over liposuction and documentation violations found during a February 2023 inspection.1Miami Herald. State Investigations and Fines Against Miami-Area Cosmetic Surgery Clinics
What Florida Inspectors Found and Fined
State inspectors visited the clinic at 18205 Biscayne Boulevard on February 22, 2023. The administrative complaint that followed on December 15, 2023 alleged three violations: incomplete pre-operative evaluation forms, at least one liposuction that removed more than 4,000 cubic centimeters of supernatant fat (the state ceiling), and at least one “major liposuction” over 1,000 cubic centimeters performed at a body site remote from another simultaneous procedure.1Miami Herald. State Investigations and Fines Against Miami-Area Cosmetic Surgery Clinics
The penalty fell on the facility’s designated physician, Dr. Keith Berman. He was fined $5,000, ordered to pay $2,180 in Department of Health case costs, and required to complete two five-hour continuing medical education courses in risk management and in medical laws and ethics. His practitioner profile listed the discipline as “satisfied” as of April 3, 2025.2Florida Department of Health. Practitioner Profile – Keith S. Berman
What the Designated Physician’s Record Shows
Dr. Berman holds Florida medical license ME120441, listed as clear and active with an expiration of January 31, 2028. He does not carry malpractice insurance and has instead elected under Florida law to personally satisfy adverse judgments up to the statutory minimum. His state profile also records a $250,000 liability settlement with an incident date of May 11, 2023, about three months after the inspection that produced the clinic’s fine. The New York State Board for Professional Medical Conduct lists his New York license as “voluntary-relinquished” as of July 8, 2025.2Florida Department of Health. Practitioner Profile – Keith S. Berman
The Clinic as Plaintiff: Dolls Plastic Surgery v. Torres
The one civil case in the available record was filed by the clinic, not against it. In August 2021, Dolls Plastic Surgery LLC sued former patient Jenny Torres in Miami-Dade County for contract and debt collection. Torres did not respond. Judge Diana Gonzalez-Whyte entered an order of default in October 2021 and a final judgment for the clinic on December 15, 2021.3UniCourt. Dolls Plastic Surgery LLC vs Jenny Torres
How the Violations Connect to Florida’s BBL Crackdown
The specific problems cited at Dolls, fat-removal volumes and multi-site procedures, sit at the center of what Florida has since tried to regulate. Between 2010 and 2022, 25 patients died in South Florida from pulmonary fat emboli after Brazilian butt lifts, with 23 of those deaths at high-volume, lower-cost clinics; autopsies in every fatal case found fat injected into the gluteal muscle rather than the subcutaneous layer above it.4National Library of Medicine. BBL Mortality in South Florida
In May 2024, Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1561, which passed both chambers unanimously. The law requires offices performing gluteal fat grafting to carry at least $250,000 per claim in professional liability coverage, mandates ultrasound guidance during fat injections to keep them out of the muscle, and bars surgeons from operating on more than one patient at a time during a BBL. It also authorizes the Department of Health to impose a $5,000 fine per incident for procedures performed in an unregistered office.5Florida House of Representatives. CS/HB 15616Florida Senate. HB 1561 Bill Analysis A separate bill under consideration as of early 2026 would regulate post-surgical recovery houses, the unlicensed facilities that house cosmetic patients after surgery.7KFF Health News. Body Shops: Cosmetic Surgery Injuries and Deaths Investigation
One boundary worth noting for anyone searching: the available record does not show a patient-filed malpractice or wrongful-death lawsuit against Dolls Plastic Surgery itself. The documented actions are the state discipline against its designated physician and the clinic’s own collection case against a former patient.