We know times are tough, but we don't know how many times we have to tell you all: do not try and save a few bucks when it comes to having potentially dangerous chemicals injected in to your face. You want Botox, that's fine, but for the love of God make sure the person putting weird things inside you is actually certified to do so. Twenty-eight-year-old Diana Marcela Cardenas-Gonzalez certainly wasn't, and her patients turned victims may now need plastic surgery to correct complications from her amateur injections.
Cardenas-Gonzalez, a Miramar resident who originally hails from Columbia, agreed to meet two patients back in September inside a Miami home around the in the 12000 block of Northwest Seventh Lane.
Cardenas-Gonzalez took a needle to the patient's face, and police aren't even actually sure whether or not the substance in the syringe was actually Botox.
In the weeks following the injections both patients developed lumps in their face, almost like cysts. Cardenas-Gonzalez tried to correct her mistake, and offered to use an infrared massager on the victim's face to soften the lumps, but that didn't work.
Eventually her victims went to the police. Cardenas-Gonzalez neither had the licenses to inject Botox or use the infrared massager. She was arrested yesterday, and now sits in the Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center.
As for her patients, their complications required attention from an actual dermatologist, and plastic surgery may be needed to fully correct the injuries.
Stories of illegal injections leading to infections, complications and even death aren't all that uncommon in South Florida, so please, if you're going to have these things needled inside of you do make sure the person doing it is licensed.
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