eyelash growth

By Cynthia Roldan and Eliot Kleinberg

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Updated: 2:26 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, 2011

Posted: 12:33 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011

Martha Gallego had driven for years from southern Miami-Dade County to a suburban Boca Raton condo to have the permanent makeup on her eyebrows touched up.

The woman who treated her ran a thriving business, providing clients with permanent makeup, tattoos, and Botox.

All that time, Gallego said, she never thought to ask Nora Patricia Hidalgo about her license. and when Hidalgo said she administered Botox for just $300, Gallego signed up.

Soon, Gallego said, she was in the hospital, her face deformed.

Hidalgo, 56, was arrested Tuesday and charged with practicing without a license resulting in bodily injury and with possession with intent to sell drugs without a prescription.

Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said detectives believe the drugs were transported from other countries by friends or others. They also have learned Hidalgo has traveled to other states to do Botox injections.

Gallego said she received her first injection on March 3 at Hidalgo’s condo at Club Royale, 6662 Boca del Mar Drive. In two days, she told detectives, her face "became swollen and very hot."

She told the Palm Beach Post that a month later, she saw an odd skin growth on the side of her nose.

"it started to grow and grow," Gallego said Wednesday in Spanish. "my face looked bigger to one side, deformed."

She said she immediately called Hidalgo, who told her to come in. Gallego got another shot – of what, she doesn’t know. then more growths began popping up and her face swelled even more.

Hidalgo initially admitted "she may have used bad medicine and would pay for the medical bills to correct the problem," Gallego said. but after her condition worsened, Hidalgo told her, "I’m not to blame if things turned out that way. You must go to the hospital. but you can’t say what happened."

Hidalgo also admitted she wasn’t licensed to do injections, Gallego said.

On April 3, doctors at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital told Gallego she also had a bacterial infection that was spreading. Gallego, who has been unable to work because of her medical treatments, will see a doctor today to determine if she’ll need reconstructive plastic surgery.

In late November, a sheriff’s detective and an investigator from the Florida Department of Health, posing as potential clients, consulted with Hidalgo, who quoted treatments and prices, a report said.

Hidalgo told the two she treats several people from the same bottle because it has a short shelf life once it’s mixed. asked about the potential for infection, Hidalgo said no clients had an infection or complication.

Gallego, who agreed to be identified, said she came forward "so no one else can get hurt."

Suburban Boca Raton woman charged with injecting Botox without license after client hospitalized