"BLACK MADAM" ARRESTED FOR TOXIC INJECTIONS

Philadelphia police on Wednesday arrested Padge Victoria Windslowe, aka the ”Black Madam,” who allegedly administered illegal “butt-boosting” injections, which may have caused the death of a 20-year-old British woman last year.Windslowe, 42, a transgender who identifies as a woman, was taken into custody at 7:30 p.m. at a home that was hosting a “pumping party,” a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department told ABC News. Police obtained an arrest warrant for Windslowe after a 23-year-old woman was admitted to a Philadelphia-area hospital after the substance Windslowe allegedly injected into her buttocks got into her bloodstream and into her lungs. The young woman had paid $1,000 for an injection of what she believed to be silicone, the police spokesperson said. Lt. John Walker, of the Philadelphia Police Department, told the Philadelphia Daily News that the woman was treated and released but would need further medical treatment. Police have suspected that Windslowe was the person who gave an injection to Claudia Aderotimi, the 20-year-old who died in February 2011 in a Philadelphia hotel room, but she was not charged because police were awaiting toxicology test results for the cause of Aderotimi’s death. At the time of her arrest Wednesday, Windslowe had needles, Super Glue, cotton balls, paper towels and a pink bag with a 20-ouce water bottle containing what police believe was the substance she would have injected into others at the party. Walker said five other people were in the house at the time, but no injections had been administered. Windslowe was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, deceptive practice and related offenses. Her bail is set for $10 million.

The arrest is the latest in a string of cases in which people have paid for illegal cosmetic injections, some of which have had deadly consequences. “Plastic surgeons in the U.S. are seeing an increasing number of disastrous complications when patients see someone who is not appropriately trained,” Dr. Malcolm Roth, president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, told ABC News at the time of Aderotimi’s death.

In November, Oneal Ron Morris was arrested in Florida for administering a series of “butt-boosting” injections made from a concoction of cement, glue and tire sealant.

In January 2011, Whalesca Castillo, an unlicensed practitioner in New York City, was arrested for running an illegal business out of her home injecting women with liquid silicone in the buttocks and breasts.

And in 2010, a Miami woman, Ana Josefa Sevilla, was charged with a similar crime after one of her clients ended up in the emergency room with complications.

Plastic surgeons continue to warn consumers about the dangers of getting cosmetic procedures in non-approved facilities and from non-certified practitioners. The notion of cutting costs for a typically expensive procedure may be tempting, but the results can be very dangerous.
“There are no shortcuts to safe outcomes,” Roth said.