Former JFL Contractor, Nedra Dodds, Indicted On Murder Charges In Atlanta

ST. CROIX — Nedra Dodds, a former metro Atlanta-based plastic surgeon stripped of her medical license in February of 2014 by the Georgia Composite Medical Board in connection with two patient deaths, and was briefly employed as a contract worker at the Juan F. Luis Hospital (J.F.L.) before being dismissed after The Consortium reported on the matter, was indicted on Thursday, January 28 on a felony murder charge, which carries a mandatory life sentence, as well as other charges, according multiple Georgia news reports, including CBS46 in Atlanta. Dr. Dodds’ former assistant, Kevin McCowan, was also indicted on felony-murder and other charges.

Consumer investigative reporter Adam Murphy of the CBS affiliate in Atlanta investigated Dr. Dodds, a former model, for seven months after learning of the deaths of two young women following procedures of liposuction and a buttocks reduction at Dodds’ now-defunct Opulence Aesthetic Medicine practice in Kennesaw, Ga.

The State Medical Board suspended Dr. Dodds’ license on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, saying, “The Board finds that Respondent’s continued practice of medicine poses a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare and imperatively requires emergency action and hereby ORDERS that Respondent’s license to practice medicine in the state of Georgia be and is hereby SUMMARILY SUSPENDED…”

CBS46 News

Nedra Dodds and Kevin McCowan (Credit: Cobb County Sheriffs)

The report added that Dr. Dodds was board-certified only in emergency care, but not in plastic surgery, the medical practice under which she performed the fatal procedures on the young women. See the Medical Board’s full report here.

In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Dr. Kendall Griffith, former J.F.L. CEO, revealed to The Consortium that he almost quit when the news broke, and admitted that hiring Dr. Dodds was a mistake. Dr. Griffith, however, revealed that he was not the one who brought Dr. Dodds to the island, had not met the doctor before her arrival here, and initially refused to hire her.

A full story on the matter will be published on The Consortium this morning.

View the video below for the story on Dr. Dodds’ background, as reported by CBS 46 in Atlanta.