In Quest to Look Like Kim, Women Elect for Life-threatening Buttocks Injections [VIDEO]

With women seeking to compete with the image perpetuated by the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Kim Kardashian, health officials are dealing with an increasing number of illegal buttock injections, which, they report, can leave women facing life-threatening complications.

According to the Associated Press, deaths from illegally performed procedures have been reported in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New York. Mississippi, too, is in the fray where one woman faces trial for in the deaths of two women she injected in her home.

Information on the procedures and the fallout is hard to come by as a result of their illegal nature. However, as the AP points out, online forums designed to arrange the practice receive thousands of responses.

One individual to come forth as a spokeswoman regarding the horrors of the procedures is Apryl Michelle Brown.

Brown received an injection of industrial silicone available at any home improvement store during the mid-2000s. For five years she struggled with excruciating pain, she reports, finally opting for surgery in 2011 that resulted in a staph infection that nearly killed her.

Brown went on to start the blog "Keepin' Up With Apryl," which she uses to not only expose the cosmetic blackmarket that nearly took her life, but encourage women to love their bodies the way they are.

Unfortunately, the practice continues to spread even in the face of such infamous horror stories, partly due to the fact that doctors refuse to practice them and partly because other alternatives, such as butt lifts, lay far outside the financial reach of those seeking a figure reminiscent of Nicki Minaj.

However, as Dr. Malcolm Roth, former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, told The Daily Beast, "Plastic surgery is no place for bargain shopping."

"These women may think they're saving money upfront, but the price to fix a mistake could cost them everything," he said -- even, as more and more are finding, their life.