A Staten Island mother has filed a $5 million lawsuit against a plastic surgeon who she claims botched her breast implant surgery, leaving her with a disfigured chest that ruined her marriage. According to her attorney, surgery that was supposed to give 47-year-old Maria Alaimo 36 C cups resulted in painful "double-bubble" deformities, meaning she "came out of that operation with essentially four breasts." more ›

If your weekend plans include swinging by a "Pumping Party," the NYC Health Department thinks you really ought to reconsider. What's a Pumping Party, you ask? You know, that's when people get together for do-it-yourself silicone injections, taking turns shooting the stuff into each other's breasts, thighs, or buttocks. According to the Times, the injections are popular among Latina women and transgenders "who may be unable to afford conventional plastic surgery." Industrial-grade silicone is available at most hardware stores, but one E.R. doctor says substitutes like castor oil, mineral oil, petroleum jelly and even automobile transmission fluid have been used, if you're in a pinch. Last month a Bronx mom died after getting silicone injections from a non-licensed friend, and the city’s poison control center reports an increase in patients with silicone poisoning. The FDA is now considering launching criminal investigations, and in recent years there have been a number of prosecutions nationwide. Dr. Nick Gorton tells the Times, "It’s a big temptation, especially among young people who, when you’re 20, you’re not thinking about your own mortality...If you go to a pumping party, you can have it tonight. " more ›