CHULA VISTA, Calif.—A South Bay area plastic surgeon and nurse charged in the death of a patient who was undergoing a breast augmentation operation at their Bonita clinic were sentenced Friday to state prison terms.
Carlos Chacon, 49, and Heather Lang Vass, 44, pleaded guilty to their roles in the Dec. 19, 2018, operation that led to the death of Megan Espinoza, a 36-year-old mother of two and local kindergarten teacher.
Chacon, who previously faced a murder charge in the case, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and three counts of aiding and abetting a person in practicing medicine without a license. He was sentenced Friday to a stipulated term of three years in prison and his plea included an agreement to a lifetime suspension of his California medical license.
Vass pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two years in prison. Her attorney, Domenic Lombardo, said she has surrendered her nursing license.
Prosecutors allege the pair delayed contacting emergency services for about three hours after Espinoza went into cardiac arrest at Chacon’s clinic, Divino Plastic Surgery.
Chacon ordered his staff not to call 911 and instructed them to lie to Espinoza’s husband regarding her condition, prosecutors said.
Chacon sought assistance instead by telephoning several anesthesiologists, one of whom told Chacon to immediately call 911. Others said they would have advised he do so, but Chacon lied about the severity of Espinoza’s condition, according to prosecutors.
He also saw other patients during that three hour period until, eventually, emergency services were called and Espinoza was hospitalized. She died more than a month after undergoing the operation.
Her family filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against Chacon and the surgery center, which settled out of court.
Superior Court Judge Maryann D'Addezio said at a Friday morning sentencing hearing that Chacon’s decision not to call 911 was “unexplainable” and “unjustifiable.”
The judge suggested Chacon delayed calling 911 because it would be discovered he had instructed Vass and other medical staff members to administer anesthesia to Espinoza and other patients, despite them being unqualified to do so. She also said an ambulance pulling up to the clinic while prospective patients were at the office would hurt him from a business standpoint.
“You thought about you and only you,” D'Addezio said.
Friday’s hearing also included discussions of an incident that occurred about six months prior to Espinoza’s fateful procedure, in which Vass overmedicated a patient who could not be awakened from her sedation. That woman was handed off to family members and Chacon instructed them to have her “sleep it off,” said the judge, who characterized the incident as a demonstration of “your lack of care for your patients.”
Chacon and Vass both apologized to Espinoza’s family and friends in attendance.
“I am deeply, deeply sorry for the immense pain and suffering that my failure to fulfill my duty has caused to those who know, knew, and loved her,” Chacon said. “I can’t undo what happened and it haunts me daily. She trusted me with her care and I failed her.”
Vass said she is also a mother and thinks about how it would impact her kids if they had lost her.
“Words cannot express how deeply and truly sorry for my part in her untimely death and how it will haunt me for the rest of my days that I did not call for help,” she said.
Espinoza’s loved ones said her sons were 3 and 6 years old at the time of her death and are now 8 and 11.
Her father, David Gorcey, said one of the most painful aspects of his daughter’s death is having to explain to her sons what happened in sanitized terms.
“I am sure this court can appreciate how painful and heart-wrenching it is to tell this version of events to two young boys who do not understand why their lives are turned upside down without their mother,” he said.
Espinoza’s widower, Moises Espinoza, said he was “robbed of [being able to] say goodbye to her” and “robbed of the future.” He said his sons “will never understand the love a mother has.”
Espinoza’s mother, Judith Gorcey, called her daughter “a remarkable woman” who was loved by family, friends, colleagues and her students.
Gorcey said that though Espinoza’s sons have ample family support, “All of us together cannot fill the void that Megan’s death has brought to them.”
