Pacific Lipo Lawsuit: Wrongful Deaths and $2.1M Settlement

A Pacific Lipo lawsuit search turns up a cluster of malpractice and wrongful death cases against the Southern California cosmetic surgery practice formally known as Pacific Liposculpture. Two wrongful death suits are pending in 2026 over patients who died after procedures performed by Dr. Heidi Regenass, a third related death at an affiliated clinic settled for $2.1 million in 2024, and the practice’s founder had his physician assistant license revoked for running the business as if he were a doctor. Pacific Lipo continues to operate three California offices.

The Pending Wrongful Death Lawsuits

Two wrongful death cases against Pacific Liposculpture and Dr. Heidi Regenass, a board-certified plastic surgeon who operated at the practice, remain active.

Terri Bishop

Terri Bishop, a 55-year-old truck driving instructor from Temecula, died on December 24, 2022, roughly three weeks after liposuction and a fat transfer at Pacific Liposculpture’s San Diego office. A Riverside County medical examiner attributed her death to cardiovascular disease aggravated by viral pneumonia. Her family disputes that finding and alleges blood clots from the surgery killed her. Pacific Liposculpture and Regenass deny the operation played a role and have filed motions to dismiss. Trial is set for June 2026.¹

Tamala Smith

Tamala Smith, a 55-year-old registered nurse, underwent liposuction and a fat transfer performed by Regenass at Pacific Liposculpture’s Newport Beach office on February 8, 2023. She died less than two weeks later. Her daughter, Ste’Aira Ballard, filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging Smith relied on marketing on Regenass’s website and Instagram page describing the surgeon as an “awake liposuction and fat transfer specialist” and promising “minimal pain” and a return to work in “24-48 hours.” The suit claims Smith reported pain and swelling after surgery, that staff dismissed her concerns, and that she never spoke to the surgeon.² Regenass and Pacific Liposculpture deny the allegations and have filed motions to dismiss. The case is pending.¹

Ballard also filed a complaint with the California Medical Board in early 2025. In March 2025, the board told her the complaint had been forwarded to the state Department of Consumer Affairs’ Health Quality Investigation Unit.³

The Third Death and a $2.1 Million Settlement

A third patient of Regenass, Lenia Watson-Burton, died after a procedure at Elite Body Sculpture, a separate Miami-based cosmetic surgery chain where Regenass also worked. Watson-Burton, a 37-year-old Navy administrator, underwent an “AirSculpt” liposuction procedure at the Elite Body Sculpture office in San Diego on October 26, 2022. She reported severe pain the next day and was not evaluated, was taken to a hospital by ambulance on October 28, and died the following day. The lawsuit alleged Regenass perforated her bowel, causing sepsis.⁴ The case settled in August 2024. Elite Body Sculpture paid $2 million and Regenass paid $100,000. Regenass did not carry liability insurance.¹

Earlier Malpractice Cases

Pacific Liposculpture faced malpractice suits well before the recent deaths. The California Physician Assistant Board’s 2015 filings referenced complaints from four patients who reported complications, including one who alleged a hernia from a muscle puncture.⁵

Cecilia O’Neill sued the practice, founder Rodney Davis, and medical director Dr. Harrison Robbins after a May 2015 liposuction procedure. She alleged she returned days later with dizziness, pain, and signs of infection, worsened, and was diagnosed with sepsis at an emergency room on June 9, 2015. She required emergency surgery and ICU care, claiming hospital bills approaching $200,000 and ongoing disfigurement. Davis and Robbins denied wrongdoing.⁶

Deandra Garland paid Pacific Lipo $12,500 for liposuction and a fat transfer to her buttocks. During the procedure, the nurse anesthetist could not maintain intravenous access and the team halted the operation partway through. Garland received the liposuction but not the fat transfer, and sued for malpractice and breach of contract, claiming asymmetry, a misplaced belly button, and other disfigurement. Pacific Lipo argued the surgeon and anesthetist were independent contractors, a status Garland had acknowledged in signed disclosures, and that halting anesthesia problems was consistent with the standard of care. The trial court granted summary judgment for Pacific Lipo in January 2024 because Garland had not provided an expert declaration. The California Court of Appeal affirmed in May 2025, noting Garland’s signed informed consent stated no specific results were guaranteed.⁷

The Founder’s Revoked License

Rodney Eugene Davis, a physician assistant, founded Pacific Liposculpture in September 2010 in San Diego’s University City neighborhood. He gave himself the title “Director of Surgery” and performed thousands of liposuction procedures without holding a medical degree.⁸

California law requires physician assistants to work under a licensed physician’s supervision. Davis hired Dr. Jerrell Borup as “Medical Director,” but Borup had not practiced medicine for twelve years following a stroke, had no cosmetic surgery experience, and visited the office once or twice a month. An associate later acknowledged Borup was hired because he “would not be involved” in daily procedures.⁵

In 2015, the California Physician Assistant Board charged Davis with the unlicensed practice of medicine, gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, misleading advertising, dishonesty, and failure to maintain adequate records. An administrative law judge found all charges established by clear and convincing evidence, writing that Davis “purposefully and intentionally set out to create a business arrangement that looked legitimate on paper… but allowed him to manipulate the system and run a liposuction business without the interference of a physician.”⁹ The Board adopted the findings and revoked Davis’s license in 2016. In July 2021, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the revocation, noting that operating without physician oversight “was Davis’ very aim.”¹⁰

Borup surrendered his medical license in 2016. Robbins, who succeeded him as medical director, faced a separate Medical Board accusation of aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of medicine and contested the charge.⁶ Davis lost his license but remained an owner and practice administrator. Pacific Lipo’s website still lists him in that role as of 2026.¹¹

A New Medical Board Complaint Against Regenass

On February 9, 2026, the California Medical Board filed an administrative complaint against Regenass accusing her of “repeated negligent acts” involving a different patient, a 49-year-old woman who had liposuction and a fat transfer in July 2022. The board alleged Regenass failed to document an appropriate pre-surgical physical examination and did not keep adequate records of post-surgical care. The complaint is separate from the three deaths.³ The board has requested an administrative hearing; no date has been set.¹²

Pacific Lipo Today

Pacific Lipo operates three locations: La Jolla (San Diego), Beverly Hills (Los Angeles), and Newport Beach. Dr. Sam Assassa is listed as the current medical director. Rod Davis remains listed as practice administrator. The company’s website includes a disclaimer that its surgeons and anesthesia providers “are independent providers of medical and surgical services and are not employees or agents of Pacific Lipo.”¹³ That contractor status is the same defense the practice used successfully in the Garland appeal.

A March 2026 investigation by NBC News and KFF Health News described Pacific Liposculpture as “a company with a history of run-ins with state regulators” and noted the absence of any federal public database tracking safety records, staffing standards, or complication rates at cosmetic surgery clinics. TJ Watkins, a California medical licensing board member, said the board should publicly alert patients when physicians are under investigation rather than waiting for a formal complaint or emergency suspension.³

1
Times of San Diego. San Diego Cosmetic Surgery Offices Center Wrongful Death Lawsuits
2
KFF Health News. Cosmetic Surgery Advertisements Big Promises Little Scrutiny Lawsuits
3
NBC News. Cosmetic Surgery Warnings Safety Liposuction Butt Lifts
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Miami Herald. Cosmetic Surgery Warnings Safety Liposuction Butt Lifts
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San Diego Union-Tribune. Doctor, PA at Liposuction Office Face Discipline
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KFF Health News. Despite Red Flags at Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
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Midpage. Garland v. Pacific Lipo
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Findlaw. Davis v. Physician Assistant Board
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Los Angeles Times. Despite Red Flags at Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
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CAP Physicians. Court Backs PA’s License Revocation Over MD Supervision Setup
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Pacific Lipo. Rod Davis
12
News-Medical. Cosmetic Surgery Investigation Prompts Warnings for Patients and a Push for Tighter Safety Standards
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Pacific Lipo. Staff Surgeons