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We all love a bargain, but when it comes to things that we inject in our face maybe its best to pay for quality service. An unnamed Kendall woman wanted to save a few bucks on Botox injections, so she traveled up to Boca Raton twice a year for eight years to get pumped up by Nora Patricia Hidalgo and her late husband Louis Gantiva. She thought the $300-a-prick price was so good she started referring tons of other Miami clients to the couple. That was until the woman’s face swelled up and she required months of treatment.
The 59-year-old client received her last injection from Hidalgo on March 5 after making the hour or so trip up to her suburban Boca Raton apartment. She got four shots of the Botox, and two days latter she reported that her face had swollen up and became red and hot.
She called Hidalgo who, according to The Palm Beach Post, admitted “she may have used bad medicine and would pay for the medical bills to correct the problem.” Hidalgo also admitted she wasn’t licensed to perform the procedure.
The client eventually was forced to go to Jackson Memorial Hospital in April when she was told her face had become infected due to the injection. The woman’s treatment to contain the infection apparently lasted months, and Hidalgo never made good on her word to pay for the treatment.
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So the client decided to tip off investigators. In November, a sheriff’s detective and an investigator from the Florida Department of Health posed as potential clients. Hidalgo told them that she used the same bottle of Botox on different clients to save money, but wasn’t worried about infections.
Hidalgo was arrested yesterday and charged with practicing without a license resulting in bodily injury and possession, with intent to sell, of drugs without a prescription. Finally, justice for the wrinkled faces of Kendall.
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