Natasha Singer writes for the NYT:
In the last few years South Florida has become the nation's capital of black-market beauty treatments, in the view of many licensed doctors in the region who regularly see patients hoping to repair botched procedures. At parties like the one the clothing importer attended, or during private appointments in houses, hotel rooms, beauty salons and makeshift offices, people are getting everything from silicone shots to Botox, and in some cases plastic surgery, police and health department officials say. The unlicensed practitioners, who include doctors trained in other countries, nurses, medical aides and even beauticians, attract patients with low fees, a willingness to use illegal permanent wrinkle fillers, a congenial atmosphere or the convenience of not needing to make an appointment weeks in advance. "It's an epidemic," said Dr. Flor A. Mayoral, a dermatologist in Miami who sees two or three patients a day who have been deformed by illegal beauty procedures.