I was going to wait until the autopsy came back to comment on this news article, but there are points to be made even now.
First, it isn’t known if the death was due to liposuction.
This December 30th Palm Beach Post article gives the basics and that is all: South Florida woman, 35, dies getting plastic surgery (bold highlights are mine).
Lidvian Zelaya's New Year's resolution for 2011 was to "look good," so she went to Strax Rejuvenation Center in Lauderhill on Monday to have fat liposuctioned from her waist and added to her buttocks, her husband, Osvaldo Vargas, said.Three hours later, Vargas said, his wife was rushed to emergency facilities at a nearby medical center. When he arrived there, he was told she had died. She was 35.Vargas and his attorney, Spencer Aronfeld of Coral Gables, said they were not sure what doctor performed the procedure nor whether the procedure had started when the medical problems began.
It troubles me that the husband isn’t sure who performed the procedure. It wasn’t a training hospital, but a private clinic (Strax Rejuvenation Center). Perhaps it is reports like this one and this one which has caused a loss of trust in physician integrity.
It troubles me that the husband wasn’t sure the procedure had even started when the medical problems began. As difficult as it would have been, didn’t Lidvian’s surgeon (reported elsewhere to have seen Dr. Roger L. Gordon in consultation) sit down and talk with the family?
He may not have done anything wrong. It may turn out she had an allergic reaction to a medication or malignant hyperthermia or ….
Or perhaps Dr. Gordon did talk to the family, but the grief stricken husband didn’t hear or process it.
This also troubles me, as I know it will Dino Doc who has written on clearing patients for surgery.
From the ABC News article on January 3, 2011: Did Florida Woman's New Year's Resolution Costs Her Life? Cosmetic Surgery Gone Wrong Has Family Wondering What Happened
Dino Doc that says a lot about why you are increasing asked to do pre-surgery clearances.According to the family, Zelaya was in perfect medical condition, and the clinic cleared her through a pre-operative screening. Now, the family is urging anyone considering cosmetic surgery to undergo a second, pre-surgical health evaluation by an independent primary care physician."I think it's an inherent conflict of interest if you are getting screened by the surgeon who wants to do the procedure," said Aronfeld.
Related posts:
Know Your Surgeon (November 3, 2010)
Liposuction – Shaping not Weight-loss (February 8, 2010)
Liposuction Overview (October 6, 2010)
Major and Lethal Complications of Liposuction -- An Article Review (July 16, 2008)
1 comment:
That is BOTHERING indeed. No mention if it was a board certified plastic surgeon. Who else was in the operating room? Was there even a licensed anesthesiologist present? It just baffles me when people don't do their research! It takes A LOT of faith and trust in a Dr. and the facilities for them to put you under general anesthesia and do procedures on you. It is not something that should be taken lightly, and yet so many people do! I guess they just assume or are naive?
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