$13 Million King County Verdict Against a Burien Cosmetic Surgeon, Affirmed on Appeal in 2025
After trial: Judgment of $13,034,186 was entered in August 2023 and affirmed by Division One of the Washington Court of Appeals on July 21, 2025.
Won by Oslund Udo Little, PLLC.
A King County jury found on August 4, 2023 that Dr. Kristine Brecht and her Burien clinic committed medical negligence, failed to obtain informed consent, and violated Washington's Consumer Protection Act, and judgment was entered for $13,034,186. Division One of the Court of Appeals affirmed on July 21, 2025.
What happened
This is not an asbestos case. It is a cosmetic surgery malpractice case, tried by an asbestos and mesothelioma firm.
Nasra Elmi found Dr. Kristine Brecht on YouTube. Brecht was a licensed physician board certified in family medicine, and she was the sole owner and operator of Aesthetic Rejuvenation Spa in Burien, Washington, where she performed surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures. Her clinic's website advertised her trademarked "Cinderella Anesthesia" and showed before and after photos of arms and stomachs with small incisions.
On August 1, 2020, Elmi went in for a consultation about a tummy tuck, liposuction, an arm lift, and a breast lift. She told Brecht she was diabetic and a smoker. She signed consent forms that day.
Brecht operated on Elmi twice in eight days, assisted by two medical assistants. On September 1, 2020 she performed an abdominoplasty and liposuction. On September 8 she performed an arm lift, a breast lift, and more liposuction. For both surgeries she used local anesthesia and oral sedation instead of general anesthesia. Elmi was told to take Ambien, oxycodone, Phenergan, and lorazepam before surgery, and was given more oxycodone and lorazepam during it. Brecht never established intravenous access.
The incisions did not heal. The one on Elmi's left arm ran from her armpit to her elbow and opened twice in several places. Brecht eventually diagnosed an infection. Elmi stopped going back and sought treatment elsewhere for wounds and scarring that continue to require care.
Elmi and her husband Robert Blanton sued in King County Superior Court, pleading medical negligence, lack of informed consent, breach of promise, and violation of the Consumer Protection Act. The case was tried by Ruby Aliment and Vanessa Firnhaber Oslund. At the time of trial the firm was named Bergman Oslund Udo Little. The Bergman name has since come off and the practice is now Oslund Udo Little, PLLC, so contemporaneous 2023 coverage of this verdict carries the older name.
The jury heard evidence that, separate from Elmi's care, Brecht had entered a stipulated order with the Washington Medical Commission in August 2021 admitting unprofessional conduct in the treatment of nine patients, and a second stipulated order with the Department of Health in October 2021 concerning cosmetic surgical procedures performed without a required license.
On August 3, 2023 the case went to the jury. On August 4 the jury found for Elmi on every claim, awarding her $11,000,000 for past and future damages, $2,000,000 to Blanton for loss of consortium, and $34,186 in financial loss on the Consumer Protection Act claim. The trial court entered judgment of $13,034,186 on August 23, 2023, and later added attorney fees and treble damages on the consumer claim.
Brecht appealed on four grounds, including the admission of her prior disciplinary orders. On July 21, 2025, Division One of the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed in full, holding that any error in admitting the prior conduct evidence was harmless on the record as a whole and that substantial evidence supported the Consumer Protection Act verdict.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Washington Court of Appeals, Division One -- Elmi v. Aesthetic Rejuvenation Spa, PLLC, No. 85851-3-I, unpublished opinion affirming the verdict (July 21, 2025)
- 2.Justia -- Nasra Elmi and Robert Blanton v. Aesthetic Rejuvenation Spa, PLLC, et al., Washington Court of Appeals Division I (2025)
- 3.The B-Town (Burien) Blog -- $13 million verdict secured against Burien cosmetic surgeon Dr. Kristine Brecht (August 2023), naming Ruby Aliment and Vanessa Firnhaber Oslund of Bergman Oslund Udo Little
- 4.Newsweek -- Cosmetic surgery patient left with rotting skin to get $13M
- 5.Oslund Udo Little, PLLC (firm)
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