A 21-year-old woman has died after undergoing liposuction to remove fat from her waist and thighs at a private clinic in Utrecht. The cause of death is not yet known but is under investigation by health inspectors.
Liposuction is regarded as a low-risk cosmetic surgery technique in the Netherlands. The woman was taken to the Utrecht University Medical Centre after suffering complications on the operating table at a clinic run by Aestheticare and died soon afterwards.
The clinic, Medisch Centrum Biltstraat, is registered with the private clinic’s umbrella body ZKN.
The number of private clinics in the Netherlands has soared in recent years. In 2004, health inspectors criticised the widely differing standards of care on offer. At around half of the clinics it was unclear if doctors had the proper papers to carry out the treatment they were offering.
Dr DiSaia at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery says that liposuction is a safe surgery accepting the risk that is inherent in any surgical procedure.
It looks as those there are clinics in the Netherlands in which the doctors were not properly qualified to performed some of the procedures they were offering. I think that when considering surgery the facilities and most importantly the physician’s qualifications should be taken into consideration.
YIKES. Dr. DiSaia (my favorite blogging Plastic Surgeon) is keeping us informed!
May 16th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate them.