Natasha Singer writes for the NYT:
In 2001 the Miami-Dade Police Department responded by setting up an unlicensed practitioner unit, one of the few such task forces in the country dedicated to investigating medical fraud. The Florida Department of Health has an Unlicensed Activity Office, the only one of its kind, to investigate those who perform medical and cosmetic procedures without a license. Since its inception in 1998, this office has investigated more than 4,000 complaints and has led local police departments like Miami-Dade to arrest 485 unlicensed practitioners. Miami's proximity to Central America and South America, along with a huge immigrant population and a party scene that caters to sculptured models and bodybuilders make it an ideal hothouse for bootleg procedures, said Spencer Marc Aronfeld, a lawyer in Coral Gables who is suing three unlicensed plastic surgeons on behalf of clients.