A California plastic surgeon gets his license renewed while behind bars for the death of a mother he performed a botched boob job on.
Carlos Chacon pled guilty to the 2019 death of Megan Espinoza in July 2024, agreeing to forfeit his medical license for life.
But in September 2024, his Arizona-issued license was renewed while he was behind bars, Arizona Medical Board records show.
His license, which has restrictions, is set to expire in March 2027.
Espinoza's family is now demanding answers for how the doctor was able to renew his authorization from behind bars.
'Shock and disbelief in a country like America something like this could happen,' her brother, David Gorcey, told NBC San Diego.
The family's lawyer, Christian Jagusch, who is also a physician, called it a 'gross miscarriage of justice.'
'It is a danger to the consumers that these medical boards are supposed to protect,' he told the outlet.
Megan Espinoza died after a botched boob job operation. She left behind her husband and their two children
Carlos Chacon pled guilty in July 2024. In September 2024, his medical license renewed, despite him being in jail for involuntary manslaughter and having agreed to forfeit his license in his plea deal
Even with restrictions in place, Chacon would still be able to prescribe drugs and order medical equipment if he were out of prison, Jagusch said.
The Arizona Medical Board told the Daily Mail that his license is active with restrictions as it is pending a hearing.
'At this time, a formal hearing has not yet been scheduled,' a spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
'Arizona law does not provide for the automatic revocation of a physician’s license based solely on a conviction, disciplinary action, surrender, or revocation in another state.'
'The Board is required to independently review and investigate such actions and determine appropriate outcome based on Arizona statutes and regulatory standards. This process is designed to ensure due process while also protecting the public,' the spokesperson added.
Espinoza, 36, went into cardiac arrest during a breast augmentation surgery at the Divino Surgery Center in Bonita, San Diego, in December 2018.
District Attorney Gina Darvas said he refused to call 911 for more than three hours and banned his employees from doing so. It's alleged that he left the operating suite to tend to four other patients while Espinoza lay dying.
The DA has since accused him of cutting corners to make more money by using an untrained nurse to perform anesthesia on mother-of-two Espinoza.
Espinoza's family is now demanding answers on how the doctor's license was renewed
The family's lawyer, Christian Jagusch, who is also a physician, called it a 'gross miscarriage of justice.' If Chacon were out of jail, he'd be able to order drugs and medical equipment
The arrest affidavit stated that Espinoza went into cardiac arrest at around 2.30pm in the middle of the surgery and Chacon failed to call emergency services for help.
'Chacon made the conscious decision to stop others from providing emergency lifesaving efforts on at least seven occasions,' the document said.
And he then told his employees to lie to her husband, Moises Espinoza, about her condition and what was really happening.
The affidavit also said Carla Hernandez, the surgical technician who 'admitted she had personally injected Espinoza with anesthetics,' attended college for two years as a business major but did not graduate.
'Hernandez holds no certifications related to being a medical assistant,' it continued.
'Hernandez first knew that something had gone wrong during Espinoza's surgery when the first implant was in.'
'At that time, Espinoza's color began changing and the surgical monitor began making some sort of beeping sound,' it added.
Darvas told the court that although Chacon phoned two doctors to ask for advice about what to do, he did not give them all the information about what had happened.
Espinoza spent a month in hospital after the procedure. She died on January 28, 2019, after doctors informed her family she would not regain neurological function
Chacon stated Espinoza did not lose a pulse and hid the fact that her heart had stopped.
One doctor then told him to call 911 during a phone call at 5.03pm, but he didn't do it until 5.24pm, almost three hours after the patient suffered a cardiac arrest around 2.30pm.
He then lied to the operator to cover up in an effort to create 'plausible deniability.'
And Darvas revealed the surgeon left Espinoza in the operating suite to tend to four other patients as she lay dying.
'He can't be providing life-saving treatment to the victim on the table when he's in his practice seeing other patients,' Darvas said. 'We found that to be extremely egregious.'
Espinoza spent a month in hospital in critical condition and doctors informed her family that she was not expected to regain neurological function and she died on January 28, 2019.