February 16, 2006

South Florida has become nation's capital for black-market beauty treatments, with unlicensed practitioners offering procedures ranging from silicone shots and Botox to plastic surgery; doctors, nurses, medical aides and even beauticians, often trained in other countries, are attracting patients with low fees and willingness to use illegal permanent wrinkle fillers; Miami's proximity to Central and South America, its large immigrant population and party scene make it hothouse for bootleg procedures; most frequent side effects are lumps and bumps and lopsided and grossly exaggerated facial features; professional medical societies advise patients to check Web sites of state medical boards to verify doctors they consult are licensed; photos (L)

Damage from the investigation of the celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano reached the top of Hollywood's business community on Wednesday, when a federal grand jury issued wiretapping and conspiracy charges against the lawyer who handled Kirk Kerkorian's 2002 legal battle with his former wife. The lawyer, Terry N. Christensen, and his Century City-based firm are a major presence in the entertainment industry, having represented Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Walt Disney Company and MGM/UA, among others. The lawyer has represented Mr. Kerkorian for over 30 years, once served as president of the 88-year-old billionaire's private Tracinda Corporation, and has been involved with Mr. Kerkorian's recent investment in General Motors.

Designers like Derek Lam and Anna Sui are balancing their traditional fall collections of sweaters, shearlings and tweeds with chiffon shirtwaist dresses, halter-tops and doily-lace tunics to reflect growing trend among young women to dress 'bicoastal' no matter what the weather; photos (M)

As the 10th Mountain Division prepared to go to Afghanistan this month, its Third Brigade ordered boxes of the Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid's seminal book ''Taliban'' to be issued to officers along with body armor, high-tech seven-layer cold weather uniforms and ballistic-grade Oakley Blade wraparound sunglasses. When the 10th Mountain went to Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, their task was purely military: to hunt down Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. That mission remains, but now the goal is as much a political one: to bolster the American-supported government of President Hamid Karzai.

Manhattan lawyer Joel Rudin will file suit on behalf of Shih-Wei Su alleging widespread prosecutorial misconduct in Queens; Su served 12 years in prison for attempted murder before conviction was overturned; suit cites details of convictions reversed for prosecutorial wrongdoing, including presenting false testimony by witnesses in exchange for leniency and misleading of juries; details of Su's conviction noted (M)