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All in the family.

​Chiropractors, physicians, and medical clinics have donated a third of state House candidate Merick Lewin's campaign contributions so far, and many donors are members of the 1-800 411-PAIN Referral Service owned by Lewin's family.

Lewin, a Republican candidate from Davie, told New Times he did not want to be judged by his "familial relationships" -- namely, his uncle Harley Lewin's co-ownership of 411-PAIN. The well-known referral service has recently been the subject of a class-action lawsuit and a civil investigation by Florida's attorney general.

Yet Lewin's campaign shows a strong influence from the family business. He has collected at least $21,800 from chiropractors, doctors, and medical clinics. Donors include:

-- Barry Raxenberg, a Palm Beach chiropractor who is part of the 411-PAIN network and has publicly praised the referral service.

-- Broward Rehabilitation Center, a Lauderdale Lakes chiropractic clinic co-owned by Harley Lewin and his twin brother, Robert. Merick Lewin was a lobbyist for Broward Rehab in Tallahassee last year.

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Alyne Medical Rejuvenation Institute

Dr. Sant Antonio is barred from performing office surgery.

​Dr. Alberto Sant Antonio, a Weston physician whose patient stopped breathing during a liposuction procedure this summer, is temporarily banned from performing office surgeries in Florida.More >>

The BSO is investigating Robert Hocke's death.

​​A Davie scuba diver was found dead around 5 p.m. Sunday, about one mile south of the Dania Beach pier, the Broward Sheriff's Office has just reported.

Cops say that 62-year old Robert Hocke went missing at 1:14 p.m, after signaling to his dive buddy that he was running low on air. 

Both men returned to the surface together and agreed to return to their friends' boat. When Hocke's dive buddy got back to the boat, however, Hocke was gone. 

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Flickr user: Images_of_Money

Bad credit? No problem.

​First came the ads touting plastic surgery financing for anyone with a checking account. Now they're targeting patients with bad credit. If the owners of Strax Rejuvenation and Aesthetics Institute are trying to compete with used-car salesmen, they're doing an excellent job.

"Strax Rejuvenation has teamed in an exclusive relationship with a finance company to provide credit to patients with FICO scores as low as 515," says the office's latest news release. "Patients who never thought they would qualify are now having their procedures and making low monthly payments."

Strax, a popular nip-and-tuck office in Lauderhill, contracts with a rotating roster of doctors who have performed 30,000 surgeries in the past seven years, according to Strax's owners. Four people have died after undergoing procedures there.
 
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Courtesy Aronfeld Trial Lawyers

Lidvian Zelaya died after surgery at Strax.

​Strax Rejuvenation and Aesthetics Institute in Lauderhill prides itself on making plastic surgery available to the masses. Owners of the high-volume surgery office say their nips and tucks are less expensive than other doctors' because they buy surgical supplies, such as breast implants and sutures, in bulk.

But Strax also offers financing options for patients who consider a $3,500 boob job out of their price range. Lidvian Zelaya, the 35-year-old Miami woman who died last December after fat transfer surgery at Strax, chose to finance the $4,600 procedure.

Strax Vice President Philip Feanny said in an interview this summer that the company does not offer loans directly to More >>

The Daily Mail

​A little-known killer is making its way through the southern United States, according to the British tabloid The Daily Mail: a "brain-eating amoeba" called Naegleria fowleri. Victims so far include one 16-year-old girl from Florida, Courtney Nash, who reportedly died after swimming in the St. John's river in Brevard County. (The New York Daily News confirms the story.) More >>

Flickr user: Sully Pixel

​More than 3,600 Floridians are on a government waiting list for AIDS medicine -- the longest list in the country, according to the national nonprofit the AIDS Institute. Of the needy patients, 886 live in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

The medicine, which keeps patients healthier and living longer, costs $12,000 to $36,000 a year, the Palm Beach County Health Departments says. Funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) is provided to states by the federal Ryan White program. But thanks to the economic downturn, Florida has seen a "record increase" in enrollment in the program and last summer was forced to put people on a waiting list for aid.

This week, the Obama administration reversed some cuts to Florida's funding, but the $7 million allocated for the state is enough to continue
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Alyne Medical Rejuvenation Institute

Dr. Sant Antonio removes fat, but is it plastic surgery?

​Dr. Alberto Sant Antonio, founder of the Weston cosmetic surgery clinic where two patients recently died after fat-removal procedures, is not a board-certified plastic surgeon, according to Florida Department of Health records.

Sant Antonio trained as a general surgeon in Baltimore and is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons. But that doesn't mean he has the specific training that board-certified plastic surgeons receive. On its website, the Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons has a cautionary statement about non-board-certified doctors:

"All members of the Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons are certified by the American
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Apparently, Scott has always been this scary.

​"People close to Mr. Scott characterized his downfall in terms suitable for a Greek tragedy, portraying him as a brilliant and incisive businessman who was undone by his fatal flaws. Those flaws, they said, included an arrogance and aggressiveness that permeated the company."

No, this is not a premature eulogy for Scott's gubernatorial administration. It's an excerpt from a New York Times article written 14 years ago, when Scott was forced to resign as CEO of Columbia/HCA, the health-care company he founded.

In 1997, FBI agents raided the company's offices and hospitals in several states, alleging
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