A 33-year-old woman who allegedly went by “Dr. Lori” is facing multiple felony charges after Miami police say she ran an unlicensed cosmetic clinic in Liberty City that left at least two women disfigured, requiring repeated surgeries to drain abscesses and repair scarring. Latonya Shanice Starks operated Lori Dior Miami Med Spa at 5789 NW Seventh Ave., where investigators say she injected clients with needles despite holding no medical license of any kind.
According to WPLG Local 10, police say Starks used an insulin-type needle to inject a substance into a woman’s buttocks and abdomen, and that Lori Dior was not licensed by any state authority. Starks allegedly injected clients with Lemon Bottle, a foreign fat-dissolving substance that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and separately represented Sculptra, marketed as a dermal filler, as a fat-dissolving injection. A Miami police detective told the outlet that Lemon Bottle is not approved by the FDA.
One victim required repeated hospitalization over roughly three months after her procedure, per the arrest report cited by the station, and told police she paid Starks $1,200 for the injections. Another woman paid $650 to have her sister injected, the report states. Two women needed multiple procedures to drain abscesses and repair scarring, and both continue to experience pain at the injection sites, while the injected substance also caused lumps and irritation. One victim believed medications used to treat her injection complications caused a miscarriage.
Complaints Piled Up Before Arrest
Miami police received complaints about Starks in May and June, according to the same account, before officers arrested her following a traffic stop near her home in Aventura. She now faces three charges of practicing healthcare without a license causing serious injury, along with two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. She was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a total bond exceeding $30,000…