Cheap Liposuction: Is it worth dying for?
By: Project Beauty Editor
Posted: January 24, 2011
Project Beauty’s Audrey Hasson investigates the horrible death of a 47-year San Diego woman, who died only 10 minutes after getting liposuction in Mexico. Lourdes Trinidad ventured to Tiajuna and sought liposuction from a physician claiming to be a plastic surgeon. Trinidad, according to family members, was a healthy and active pharmacy technician, and they believe Louis May Villanueva, who performed the surgery, is responsible for her death.
The victim's brother, Sergio Salazar, says that his sister went to get liposuction on her stomach, but 10 minutes after the procedure, Lourdes was dead. "I believe he was the one that actually killed my sister," Salazar said. "There was nobody there qualified for us to tell us what happened to our sister."
The clinic was shut down temporarily by Baja California health inspectors, as it was found to have “several irregularities,” including deficiencies in the operating areas and in record-keeping procedures, a spokesman for the Baja California Health Department said. In addition, the clinic’s director, Dr. Louis May Villanueva, was asked to present additional documentation of his medical credentials, the spokesman said.
The family says there is a lesson for all. As Salazar said, "Do your homework if you go to another country." Only a board certified plastic surgeon should be seen for such procedures as liposuction.
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