The potential risk involved with butt injections was the focus Thursday in the trial of a local hip-hop artist who is charged with third-degree murder.
With the sun beaming down onto the 11th floor into an already warm courtroom with heating problems, the prosecution called witnesses to describe the injection procedures that Padge Victoria Windslowe, known as "Lillian" to some, performed in hotels in the Philadelphia area.
One former patient, Claudia Aderotimi, flew in from Britain for a procedure at a Hampton Inn in 2011, but afterward, fell ill and died overnight. Dr. Anthony Mazzeo, the emergency physician who was in charge of taking care of Aderotimi before her death at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital on February 8, testified to the state of Aderotimi's health when she arrived at the hospital.
"She told doctors that she developed chest pain and shortness of breath shortly after receiving injections of silicon in her buttocks," said Mazzeo.
After undergoing a catscan, Aderotimi became more confused, and her mental capacities became compromised, the doctor said.
A major point in the cross-examination came when Mazzeo was asked by defense attorney David S. Rudenstein about the possibility of removing some of the silicon from her lungs.
"The silicon particles are often so small that they get into the smallest capillaries. It gets trapped in there. It's not like a big blob that you can remove," Mazzeo added.
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Another witness, Melissa Lisath, recounted two separate occasions in 2008 in which she traveled from New York to Philly for butt injections from Windslowe. The first time, in August, she came down with other friends who were also having the procedure, and Lisath testified she laid down on a massage table as Windslowe injected her three times in each cheek. She recalled large jugs of liquid on the counter in the room, and said Windslowe told her the silicon was the same product doctors used.
The next month, Lisath went to have a similar procedure, but on the drive back to New York, began to experience difficulty breathing. Her health continued to decline and a few hours later, her mother called for an ambulance and Lisath was taken to a hospital. Lisath testified she was in bed there for three months, suffering from complications from the injection.
Lisath was on disability until just a few months ago, when she finally started working again. She still complains about lumps in her butt from the second procedure.
The trial is expected to continue for the next couple of weeks.
