A 31-year-old Brazilian woman died during a hydrolipo cosmetic procedure at a clinic in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
As reported by local news outlet G1, Paloma Lopes Alves suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to a local hospital in a Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) unit. However, she was declared deceased on arrival. The case was registered as a suspicious death.
Paloma's Husband Blames Her Death on Clinic's Negligence
According to Paloma's husband, Everton Silveira, his wife was admitted to the Maná Day aesthetic clinic in the morning to undergo the cosmetic procedure on her back and abdomen with Dr. Josias Caetano and was expected to be discharged in the late afternoon.
Silveira said that the staff did not permit him to see Alves after the procedure was completed. "I realized that something was strange by the expressions on the employees' faces, so I opened the door to the room where she would be, but she was no longer there," he said, before adding that he made his way to the lobby area, where he noticed a doctor was performing chest compressions on Alves.
"They were were extremely negligent. They took a long time to call SAMU," her husband told G1. "They didn't tell me what was happening. It was a very sad, delicate situation. Wow, out of the ordinary. At the hospital, they tried to revive her, but she died."
According to Everton, Paloma did not know the doctor and the procedure was contracted through social media, with the first personal contact with the professional only taking place on Tuesday. In addition, payment for the consultation was made by bank transfer to a company in the doctor's name in the amount of R$10,000 ($1,685).
Clinic Did Not Have a License to Provide Health Services
The São Paulo Municipal Health Department said in a statement that Maná Day did not have a license to provide health services.
"No Health License was identified with the municipal health surveillance or even a request for health licensing filed. It was fined and closed for carrying out irregular activity," it said.
Dr. Caetano told TV Globo that Alves had a shortness of breath within minutes after she was transferred to the recovery room.
"The patient's respiratory distress worsened and she became unconscious, but it only took a few seconds," he said. "We started performing cardiac massage. We started ventilating her with an oxygen mask. When you suffer from a lack of oxygen, you would expect that these maneuvers would help you recover quickly. That didn't happen."
Dr. Caetano Previously Accused of Malpractice
Dr. Caetano has previously been accused of malpractice by patients 21 times. In 2021, a court ordered Dr. Dos Santos to pay a patient 50,000 reais, about $8,400, after a patient underwent an abdominoplasty and a liposculpture in December 2017.
The patient had death of body tissue and lost her belly button. However, the doctor's lawyer, Lairon Joe, revealed that the cases had been dismissed by courts.
"Dr. Josias has no criminal conviction for medical malpractice,' Joe said. 'And all the cases, the police investigations that were opened, have all been dismissed. So, we will provide the necessary clarifications."
What is a Hydrolipo?
Hydrolipo, also known as tumescent liposuction, is the name given to liposuction performed under spinal anesthesia, which renders only part of the body insensitive to pain. The patient, if not sedated, remains conscious and awake throughout the procedure.
The surgery has the prefix "hydro" in its name because the doctor injects a solution of anesthetic, saline solution and adrenaline with the aim of reducing the size of the capillaries and reducing blood loss.
Hydrolipo is an alternative to conventional liposuction for people who want to remove areas of fat from specific points on the body. The technique became known for being faster, more comfortable and cheaper than conventional liposuction, but it should be used sparingly because it can become toxic if administered in excess.
