A 31-year-old businesswoman died Tuesday after undergoing a hydrolipo procedure, a form of liposuction, at a clinic in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil.
Paloma Alves had difficulty breathing after the procedure and went into cardiac arrest at Maná Day, a beauty clinic located in São Paulo, the state capital.
Alves was rushed by paramedics to the Dr. Cármino Caricchio Municipal Hospital and died in the emergency room while doctors tried to save her life.
According to a Brazilian media G1Alves’ husband, Everton Silveira, said he hired the services of Dr. Josias dos Santos through social media and wired him 10,000 Brazilian reals (about $1,700) that he had been saving for two years.
The couple left their house in the town of Vargem Grande Paulista around five in the morning for the appointment scheduled for nine in the morning.
Silveira said the staff did not allow him to see Alves after the procedure was completed.
‘I realized that something was strange from the expressions on the employees’ faces, so I opened the door to the room where she would be, but she was gone,’ Silveira.
Silveira headed to the lobby, where he noticed a doctor performing chest compressions on Alves.
Paloma Alves underwent a hydrolipo procedure and died after suffering cardiac arrest in São Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday. Her husband told Brazilian outlet G1 that she had engaged the doctor’s services through social media and met him in person for the first time before the procedure.
Dr. Josias dos Santos told Brazil’s TV Globo that his patient, Paloma Alves, is having difficulty breathing when she was in the recovery room after undergoing a hydrolipo procedure on Tuesday. The network found that dos Santos has been sued 21 times by patients who accused him of malpractice
Alves was resuscitated and went into cardiac arrest as the ambulance approached the hospital.
The São Paulo Municipal Health Secretariat 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, nor was an application for a health license even submitted. He was fined and closed for carrying out irregular activity,’ he stated.
Dos Santos told TV Globo that Alves had difficulty breathing minutes after being taken to the recovery room.
“The patient’s respiratory distress worsened and she lost consciousness, but it only took a few seconds,” dos Santos said.
‘We started performing cardiac massages. We began to ventilate her with an oxygen mask. When you are suffering from a lack of oxygen, these maneuvers will hopefully help you recover quickly. That didn’t happen.’
Paloma Alves went into cardiac arrest after undergoing a hydrolipo procedure at a clinic in Brazil and then went into cardiac arrest while being rushed to a local hospital, where she died in the emergency room while doctors tried to save her life.
The Municipal Health Secretariat of São Paulo found that the Maná Day clinic did not have a license to provide health services
The network discovered that other patients had accused him 21 times in the past of medical negligence.
In 2021, a court ordered Dr. Dos Santos to pay a patient 50,000 reais, about $8,400, after a patient underwent a tummy tuck and liposculpture in December 2017.
The patient had death of body tissue and lost her navel.
However, his lawyer, Lairon Joe, revealed that the cases had been dismissed by the courts.
‘Dr. “Josias has no criminal convictions for medical negligence,” Joe said. ‘And all the cases, the police investigations that were opened, have all been dismissed. Therefore, we will provide necessary clarifications.”
A hydrolipo is an alternative to liposuction that requires local anesthesia and can last between one hour and two and a half hours.
Paloma Alves’ husband revealed that he spent two years saving nearly $1,700 to cover the cost of her hydrolipo procedure
In the procedure, the doctor would inject saline solution with adrenaline and local anesthetic into the area to decrease fat and cellulite and give it shape.
Patients opt for it because it is considered effective and non-invasive.
“It was conceived that hydrolipo would be this liposuction, injecting anesthetic, saline and adrenaline done with anesthesia, in the doctor’s office and with the patient awake,” Dr. Wendell Ugueto told Brazilian media outlet G1 in a 2021 interview .
‘As I have anesthetic restriction, I can only perform (the procedure) in a few areas,’ Ugueto explained. ‘It is a surgery that can be a little uncomfortable for the patient. Conventional liposuction, on the other hand, is performed in a hospital environment and the patient is asleep. It’s completely comfortable for the patient and we, as surgeons, can remove much more volume.’
The 52nd Precinct of the São Paulo Civil Police is investigating the incident.
Alves’ death comes almost eight weeks after Viviane Monte, 24, died after undergoing six plastic surgeries at a medical center in the city of Sobral, in northeastern Brazil.
Her boyfriend of six years, Renan Santiago, told Brazilian media outlet G1 that she paid approximately $7,300 for a breast reduction, fat grafting on her buttocks and liposuction on her stomach, arms, back and neck.
The businessman underwent the procedures on August 31 and spent 20 days in the intensive care unit before passing away on September 26.
The hotel’s owner, Fábia Portilho, underwent mammoplasty and liposuction at a hospital in the central municipality of Goiânia on May 4.
The 52-year-old man was discharged the day after the procedures and was rushed to the medical center on May 7 and died several hours later.