A joint investigation by KFF Health News and NBC News found that cosmetic surgery chains have been the target of scores of medical malpractice and negligence lawsuits, including 12 wrongful death cases.

A few days after a harrowing cosmetic surgery procedure, Erin Schaeffer says she woke up with fluid leaking from an open wound in her stomach.

Schaeffer went on to spend a week in a Florida hospital battling a severe infection after a type of tummy tuck and liposuction at the Jacksonville branch of Sono Bello, a national cosmetic surgery chain.

More than a year later, scars remain on her lower body — and in a lawsuit she is accusing Sono Bello of using an inadequately trained obstetrician-gynecologist to remove her excess skin and fat, a procedure she says caused excruciating pain.