A 40-year-old woman died after undergoing liposuction at her home in Medellín, Colombia, on Saturday.
The victim, identified by the local press as Lina Ospina, would have entrusted a friend, who is a nurse, with carrying out the invasive procedure.
Ospina was anesthetized around 7:30 p.m. and began to convulse while the surgery was being performed, her neighbor, Paula Vásquez, told the Tele Medellín television channel.
She was taken out of the house and rushed to Alma Mater Hospital, where doctors declared her dead around 10:50 p.m.
Ospina worked as a makeup artist and eyelash technician, according to Tele Medellín.
His death is being investigated by the Medellín prosecutor’s office. Ospina’s friend, whose name has not been revealed, has not been arrested and her whereabouts are unknown.
Ospina is the 14th person to die this year from complications related to cosmetic surgeries that were performed clandestinely in Medellín.
As of October 31, at least 125 complaints of people with complications from cosmetic surgeries were registered, according to data provided by the Regional Directorate of Health and Social Protection of Antioquia.
Lina Ospina died on Saturday after she asked a friend, who is a nurse, to perform liposuction on her at her home in Medellín, Colombia.
Colombian authorities are investigating the death of a woman who fell ill inside her home in Medellin while undergoing liposuction on Saturday and later died at a local hospital.
Lina Ospina is the 14th person to die after undergoing cosmetic surgery in clandestine environments in Medellín, Colombia
At the end of August, the Ministry of Health of Antioquia closed eight cosmetic surgery centers that did not meet the requirements to operate.
Ospina’s death occurs a month after Ada Ardila, 38, died in the middle of liposuction in an apartment set up as a clinic for aesthetic procedures.
Ardila was operated on by two people who identified themselves as doctors and they left her on the operating table.
Carlos Valdivieso, who serves as president of the Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery in Antioquia, warned that cosmetic surgeries should only be performed by doctors authorized to do so.
‘The advice we reiterate to patients is that liposuction is a risky surgery that must be performed by plastic surgery specialists and in a safe environment,’ said Valdivieso. “Someone’s home is definitely not a safe environment.”